Howard police arrested a suspect Tuesday in a murder that rattled the Oakland Mills community this past weekend and sparked concerns of gang activity in Columbia.
Ronald McConnell, 21, of no fixed address, is charged with first- and second-degree murder in connection with the death of Jason Batts, 23, of Columbia, who was found shot to death about 2:50 a.m. Saturday outside Stevens Forest Apartments.
McConnell?s fingerprint was on plastic tape wrapped around part of a shotgun found at the scene, police said. Police also received tips that McConnell was involved in the murder and was seen with a shotgun.
He was arrested when a patrol officer spotted him in front of a relative?s house in the 9400 block of Merryrest Court in Columbia, police said.
A former Howard police officer told The Examiner on the condition of anonymity Tuesday that McConnell is a repeat criminal known as “Rock” in Oakland Mills.
Court records show McConnell has a Howard Circuit Court trial June 18 for unrelated firearm charges. He?s also pleaded guilty to drug possession, second-degree assault and concealing a deadly weapon charges, according to court records.
Detectives are investigating the nature of an ongoing dispute that likely led to the shooting, said police spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn.
But Oakland Mills residents said gang activity may be to blame and called for a meeting with police Tuesday night.
“I do hear from constituents in my district and throughout my county who have concerns about gangs. They see graffiti and groups of kids hanging around for long periods of time,” said County Councilman Calvin Ball, who represents the district including Oakland Mills.
The ex-cop said Tuesday that McConnell “had a beef” a couple years ago with members of the Long Reach Crew, a neighborhood gang responsible for robberies, assaults, narcotics dealings, graffiti and general intimidation tactics.
He said Batts and his twin brother Brandon were known LRC members.
Batts? family denied the claim.
Apartment residents said they saw police recover two red bandanas at the homicide scene, a color associated with the Bloods and worn by LRC members, the ex-cop said.
Llewellyn said Tuesday that bandanas were not found, and denied a request to interview gang unit detectives until after the investigation is closed.
“A general trend is that governments downplay the gang issue because of the economic impact it causes on a community,” said Jeffrey Wennar, a Montgomery County assistant state?s attorney and deputy chief of the gang unit.
He added that minimizing neighborhood gangs by calling them “wannabes” is dangerous because they can affiliate with larger gangs.
According to a Howard police officer?s 2005 testimony before Congress, there were five known MS-13 gang cliques in Howard and an increase in activity with six other street gangs including Bloods.
“There is a lot of information that Bloods and Crips are doing a lot of recruitment along the East Coast,” Wennar said.
