A Howard County grand jury on Thursday indicted Charles David Richardson IV on two counts of first-degree murder in the slayings of 40-year-old Alevtina Zhilina and 19-year-old Trae Davon Allen.
In a separate indictment, Kenneth Wayne Sledd, 19, of Columbia, was charged with helping Richardson, 23, avoid arrest by driving him to safe house after Allen?s death and buying Richardson a bottle of bleach to soak his clothes in before a meeting with police on May 21.
According to charging documents Sledd said Richardson, also of Columbia, came to him on May 21 ? the same day police found Allen?s body in a Running Brook town house ? and told him he had “merked,” or murdered, someone.
Later that day, Richardson met with police at Brook Way Elementary School, according to charging documents. Police declined to comment on the nature of that meeting.
Sledd, Richardson and Richardson?s 22-year-old younger brother, William Richardson, were arrested following a traffic stop on Route 29 on May 22. Police found a bleach-soaked shirt in the hatchback of the car Sledd was driving.
Richardson also is charged with the April death of Zhilina, 40, who was fatally shot while working a night shift at a 7-Eleven convenience store on Columbia Road.
In that slaying, a resident came forward and told police they had overheard Richardson say, “If the [woman] would have just given me money, I wouldn?t have had to pop her?”
Police, acting on a tip, recovered a handgun they believe was used in both shootings shortly after Richardson?s arrest, according to Howard County prosecutors.
Richardson could face the death penalty for charges in Zhilina’s death, Howard County State?s Attorney Tim McCone told a gathering of Columbia residents last week.
In that case, Richardson also is charged with attempted armed robbery, first-degree assault, use of a handgun in a felony and violent crime and wearing, carrying or transporting a handgun on his person.
In Allen?s death, Richardson is charged with first-degree murder, first-degree assault and use of a handgun in a felony or violent crime.
Richardson is being held without bond in Howard County Detention Center. Sledd was released on $10,000 bail.
