On June 11, 2023, six people were shot outside a condominium complex in southeast Annapolis, Maryland, U.S.; three people were fatally wounded. A 43-year-old man, Charles Robert Smith, was subsequently arrested and charged in connection with the shooting. The shooting was believed by prosecutors to have had racially-motivated overtones; the shooter was White, and the victims were all Latino American. Hate crime enhancements have also been filed against the alleged perpetrator.

Shooting

According to the police charging documents, the six people who were shot were attending a large party when a dispute broke out over a parking issue. Mireles went to Smith's home to talk about it and was arguing with Shirley Smith when her son Charles Smith returned home and confronted him. The altercation started at 1000 block of Paddington Place. Police said that the violence started after the white luxury vehicle was parked in front of the house that Charles Robert Smith shares with his mother, sparking the aforementioned argument. According to charging documents, Shirley Smith called in a complaint to the city, saying her driveway was blocked. The verbal argument became physical.

Smith pulled out a gun and Mireles tried to grab it before Smith shot Mireles and Segovia. Smith “then stood over Mario Mireles and shot him several more times,” the document says. Smith then went into his house, got a rifle and began firing through a window at people who had come trying to help the mortally wounded men. Smith fatally shot Nicolas Mireles, and wounded Rosalina Segovia, Paul Johnnson and Enner Canales-Hernandez, police said. ^[1]

Twelve minutes later, Charles Smith, 43, was standing at the front door, hands in the air, as he surrendered to police. His neighbor, Mario Alfredo Mireles was laid out on the lawn. Christian Segovia, a friend, had fallen in the space between two Paddington homes. And Nicholas Mireles, Mario's father, was down in front of a neighbor's house. They died at the scene. Rosalina Segovia, 29, Paul Johnson, 28, and Enner Canales-Hernandez, 26, were taken to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore and are in stable condition, officials said. Neighbors have said that the man made comments that were perceived as disparaging towards Hispanic individuals. ^{[2] [3]}

Legal proceedings

An indictment against Smith was returned by a grand jury on July 21, 2023; a 42-count indictment also includes six charges of attempted first-degree murder. Smith's initial court appearance was scheduled for next Monday. His initial lawyer is no longer representing him.

Maryland's hate crime law applies to crimes that are motivated either in whole or in substantial part to another person's race, color, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, disability or national origin. It enables prosecutors to add years to a sentence, and financial penalties. Smith faces up to life in prison without possibility of parole if convicted of first-degree murder. ^[1]

The case's trial will be delayed by a judge for 2025. ^[4]

See also

• 2015 Chapel Hill shooting, a shooting that also stemmed from a parking dispute
• Anti-Mexican sentiment
• Capital Gazette shooting, a mass shooting which also took place in Annapolis
• Hispanophobia

References