The two Seat Pleasant men charged with killing a Maryland State trooper waited in ambush for off-duty officer Wesley Brown to emerge from an Applebee’s restaurant, then gunned him down, Prince George’s County police said.
Authorities on Monday filed first-degree murder charges against Cyril Williams, 27, and Anthony Milton II, 28, in the killing of Trooper Brown outside the Forestville Applebee’s early Friday morning. Court documents say Milton has confessed.
Williams has a lengthy history of criminal charges, which includes the attempted murder of a Prince George’s County police officer in 2006. That charge was dropped after a key witness failed to appear in court, Williams’ attorney, Doug Wood, told The Washington Examiner. Milton also has a violent criminal record, police said.
Brown was working a part-time job providing security at the restaurant when police said Williams refused to pay his bill and Brown threw him out. Thirty minutes later, Williams returned to the restaurant with Milton, authorities said. The two set up an ambush, police said, and one of them opened fire at Brown when the 24-year-old trooper stepped outside to make a phone call around 12:30 a.m.
Authorities said at least six bullets were fired. One slipped past Brown’s bulletproof vest, clipped his heart and killed the three-year-veteran.
Police said they’re not sure who pulled the trigger, but they have found the murder weapon.
“We believe that the motive for this shooting was that Mr. Williams was upset that he was kicked out of the restaurant — nothing more, nothing less,” Prince George’s County Deputy Chief Kevin Davis said.
Williams quickly developed as a suspect in Brown’s murder after a surveillance video of him being escorted out of the Applebee’s by Brown was widely circulated. He was arrested on a parole violation Saturday in Baltimore and officially charged with murder Monday.
Court records show Williams has been charged with repeated drug-related crimes and gun violations, but most of the charges have been dropped. He was accused of riddling a Prince George’s County police cruiser with bullets in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day 2006. When the police officer couldn’t identify Williams as the shooter and the only witness failed to appear, the charges were dropped, Williams’ attorney said.
Criminal record for Cyril Williams
2003: Arrest for drug possession, charges dropped
2004: Manufacture and distribute drugs, charges dropped; pleads guilty to possession
2005: Drug possession, resisting arrest, burglary, charges dropped; pleads guilty to drug manufacturing
2006: Attempted murder, charges dropped
Criminal record for Anthony Milton
2002: Second-degree assault, charges dropped
2004: First-degree assault, use of handgun in violent crime, charges dropped; pleads guilty to reckless endangerment
