Frederick homicide suspect stands trial in 2020 shooting; prosecutors allege he wanted girlfriend out of his life

Dec. 8—In the wake of a 2020 shooting that left a girl dead by a creek on the cusp of her 18th birthday, Frederick County police and prosecutors reportedly found evidence suggesting her boyfriend wanted her out of his life.

Opening statements in the trial of Frederick resident Richard E. Cartnail Jr., 17, came Tuesday morning after one day of jury selection. Cartnail, charged as an adult in the death of 17-year-old Hagerstown resident Tykerria Dawson, faces counts of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, using a firearm in a felony and possessing a firearm as a minor. He's being held without bail.

Dawson was found dead with gunshot wounds to the head June 27, 2020, in a wooded area along Pike Branch Creek by Briargrove Court in the Ballenger Creek area of Frederick, according to the Frederick County Sheriff's Office. She would have been 18 on June 28, according to testimony.

Assistant State's Attorney Laura Wilt in her opening statement told the jury evidence will show Dawson had a messy relationship with her boyfriend, the person accused of pulling the trigger.

"She should have had her whole life in front of her," Wilt told the jurors.

A TV behind Wilt displayed a photo of Dawson in her high school cap and gown, the grad's arms raised toward the sky.

The girl nicknamed "Tootie" by her sister was described by relatives on the witness stand as a loving person, someone who served as a youth counselor at the local community center — but evidence is expected to illustrate a conflict within the young woman's life.

Messages between Dawson and Cartnail suggest Dawson was getting a gun for Cartnail, Wilt said. Texts obtained by police also illustrate frequent arguments between the couple, talk of a possible pregnancy and accusations of cheating, according to Wilt.

"Tykerria had become a problem for Ricky," Wilt said, using the defendant's nickname. "He wanted her gone."

Also charged as an adult in the incident is Frederick resident Caliyah D. Lobaugh, 16. Wilt revealed in court Tuesday the Frederick County State's Attorney's Office reached a plea agreement with Lobaugh. If she testifies truthfully in Cartnail's trial, the state would not oppose her case being tried in juvenile court, in which Lobaugh would plea guilty to conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and possessing a regulated firearm.

Wilt alleged Lobaugh, at Cartnail's direction, waited in the wooded area by the creek with a backpack containing a handgun and a change of clothes for Cartnail, and watched him kill Dawson in the early hours of June 27, 2020. Lobaugh was 14 and Cartnail 16 at the time.

A local resident testified she heard what sounded like fireworks or gunshots in the area around roughly 1 a.m. June 27, 2020. Other residents spoke to home security camera footage they captured of people in the area around the time of the shooting.

Dawson's body wasn't found until a Briargrove Court resident left home around 4:45 p.m. June 27 for her daily walk in the wooded area, a place families and local youth frequented, according to testimony.

Frederick County Sheriff's Office deputies testified to the search of the scene that led them to finding blue fingernails matching Dawson's nails, a shell casing, sweatpants, a mask, Dawson's phone and a piece of a bullet. During a police search of Cartnail's bedroom, Detective Joshua Stears said they found four bullets and a necklace bearing the name Tykerria.

Cartnail previously admitted to killing Dawson in an interview with police July 1, 2020, then recanted his confession in September 2021.

Wilt and Assistant State's Attorney Rebecca Clinton displayed bloody photos of the scene on the courtroom TV as they questioned witnesses. Emotional outbursts among the audience of 30-plus people watching the trial led Judge Scott L. Rolle to issue multiple warnings. Rolle directed the jurors to put such outbursts out of their minds and not to consider them part of the trial.

The defense's strategy is expected to focus in part on the alleged murder weapon. Assistant Public Defender John Maclean in his opening described the case as a matter of following the gun. Maclean tried to discredit Lobaugh in advance of her testifying, saying the way she describes the gun in each of her "stories" is different and can't be corroborated. Maclean also criticized the police's questioning of Cartnail, saying they weren't trained to talk to a minor and did not make clear his mother could be present in the interview.

Assistant Public Defender Matthew Frawley pressed Dawson's older sister, Michele Lee, about a confrontation between her and Cartnail the day after the shooting. After police told Lee her sister was killed, Lee said she and roughly 10 people from her neighborhood went to Cartnail's residence the morning of June 28 looking for answers. Cartnail and another individual jumped into a car outside his home, Lee testified, but a member of Lee's group blocked their exit. Frawley called it a "wild scene" and challenged Lee's authority to stop and question Cartnail.

Lee testified she was a grieving sister who knew Dawson had left Hagerstown to visit Cartnail the night before her 18th birthday party. The sisters lived together, and Lee was aware of Dawson's relationship with Cartnail. She believed Dawson loved him.

"She was a lovable soul," Lee said. "She was God's child. ... She was a really good kid."

Dawson's father, Rodney Mitchner, also took the stand.

Clinton handed Mitchner a school photo of Dawson to identify. Mitchner put his head down on the witness stand. He stared for a long moment in the direction of his daughter's alleged killer.

"I'm the last person she hugged," the father said.

Follow Mary Grace Keller on Twitter: @MaryGraceKeller