Hagerstown man sentenced in connection with 2020 fatal shooting in city

A Hagerstown man on Thursday became the second co-defendant sentenced related to the murder of Waynesboro, Pa., resident Daynard Devere Johnson, who was shot four times in his car in October 2020.

Washington County Circuit Court Judge Brett R. Wilson sentenced Brock Jerome Smith, 34, to 25 years in state prison, suspending all but eight years, during a Thursday hearing.

The sentencing had previously been agreed to as part of a plea deal in which Smith entered an Alford plea in July to first-degree assault. Other charges, including first- and second-degree murder were dismissed as part of the deal.

An Alford plea does not admit guilt, but acknowledges the prosecution has enough evidence to obtain a conviction.

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The maximum possible penalty for the first-degree assault charge was 25 years.

Smith has 1,043 days, or almost three years, time-served credit from being held while awaiting trial.

Wilson said Smith would have to serve 50% of his sentence before he would be eligible for parole.

That means Smith could be paroled in as early as about a year.

When Smith is released from state prison, he will be on supervised probation for three years, Wilson said. He is to avoid contact with Johnson's family.

"I think Mr. Smith is pleased to get this behind him," defense attorney Andrew Alperstein said after the hearing.

Smith was not the alleged shooter in the case, Alperstein said in a previous interview.

Jill Ritter, victim/witness coordinator for the state's attorney's office, told the judge she had contacted Johnson's family about the sentencing hearing and had one victim impact statement to share with the judge. Wilson silently reread that statement before announcing the sentence.

The other co-defendant who has been sentenced in this case is Alexander Daniel Brooks, 28, of Hagerstown, who entered an Alford plea in January to first-degree murder. In May, Wilson sentenced Brooks to life in prison, with all but 30 years suspended.

Brooks' defense attorney, David Harbin, said via email after that sentencing hearing that Brooks "certainly did not pull the trigger and take the young man's life."

Charges against two other men in the case had previously been dismissed.

That leaves the lone defendant still on the loose: Raymond Garfield Campbell III, aka "Uno."

There has been an active arrest warrant for Campbell for murder charges in this case since late November 2020, according to the Hagerstown Police Department's Facebook page.

The Hagerstown Police Department has offered a reward for information leading to Campbell's arrest. The amount of the reward depends on the quality of the information, police have said. Tips can be emailed to Detective S. Weaver at sweaver@hagerstownpd.org.

What happened to Daynard Johnson?

When Hagerstown Police arrived in the 300 block of Henry Avenue in Hagerstown around 10:25 p.m. on Oct. 14, 2020, they found Johnson, 40, face down on the sidewalk with bullet wounds to his head, chest, abdomen and hand, according to court documents. He was pronounced dead 11 minutes later.

Various suspects were allegedly tracking Johnson's movements and communicating via cellphones shortly before he was shot, according to charging documents.

Smith got into a Dodge Charger, Brooks and the alleged shooter got into a Dodge Ram and another man got into a Cadillac SUV, all three leaving fast and driving to a convenience store from which one of the previous defendants allegedly texted after talking to Johnson in the store, court records state.

Police reviewed city surveillance cameras to track the vehicles, court records state.

The Ram caught up to the Audi near Henry and Murph avenues and followed closely until it returned to that area, court records state. The Audi stopped in the middle of Henry Avenue as a man approached and talked to the Audi's occupants.

The Ram and Charger were nearby and later driving around that area. The Ram was east on Bethune Avenue, turning north toward North Avenue when Brooks allegedly dropped off the shooter and the homicide occurred, court records state.

While the shooting occurred, the Ram and Charger pulled up by each other on North Avenue and Smith was observed giving the Ram driver a "thumbs up" as he drove away, court records state. The gesture occurred about 20 to 25 seconds after Johnson was shot inside the Audi.

Johnson's murder purportedly tied to West Virginia homicide

Family and friends of Johnson have told police his murder was retaliation for the September 2020 murder of Vance Anthony Trotman Jr., 26, of Hagerstown. Smith, Brooks and others were family or close friends of Trotman, according to court documents.

Trotman and Devon Gordon Jr., of Martinsburg, were shot shortly after 2 a.m. on Sept. 6, 2020, at the Mountaineer Pub parking lot at 214 Mid Atlantic Parkway north of Martinsburg. Gordon was wounded. Trotman was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Video footage showed Trotman exit the club after a fight broke out, and that he had an opportunity to leave the premises, Cpl. R.L. Steerman Jr. with the Berkeley County Sheriff's Department has said. Instead, the footage appears to show Trotman going in the direction of where Gordon was in the parking lot when the shooting occurred, Steerman has said.

The Berkeley County prosector has previously said Johnson was a person of interest in the Trotman case, which can mean investigators wanted to speak with him.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Second Hagerstown man sentenced in connection to 2020 fatal shooting