On the evening of December 16, 2021, a burst of gunfire shattered the quiet at the intersection of Stoney Creek Lane and Grayden Lane in Brandywine, Maryland. In the driver's seat of a BMW was 20-year-old Blake White of Accokeek, a young man who was about to become the unintended victim of a violent dispute. Struck by a gunshot, his car accelerated, crashing into a nearby home. First responders found White inside the vehicle, critically wounded.
He was rushed to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries the following day. No one inside the house that was struck was harmed.
The investigation into the shooting soon revealed a complex situation. Initially, authorities believed that White and his assailant knew each other and had been arguing at the time of the incident. However, this preliminary finding was later corrected by the Prince George's County Police Department. Further investigation clarified that it was another person in White’s car who was acquainted with and involved in a dispute with individuals in the suspect's vehicle. Blake White himself did not know the occupants of the other car and was not part of their disagreement. The tragic event unfolded as White and a passenger, Trenton Talley, arrived at the location to return a debit card to someone.
The suspect in the fatal shooting was identified as 19-year-old Kevin Curtis Coleman of Washington, D.C. According to Talley's account to the police, Coleman and three others arrived in a separate vehicle. Coleman allegedly exited his car armed with a handgun, pointed it at Talley, and repeatedly demanded to know if White was armed. Despite Talley’s insistence that White was not armed, as White began to drive away, Coleman fired 17 shots into the fleeing car, one of which fatally struck White in the head.
In February 2022, Kevin Curtis Coleman was arrested and charged with first and second-degree murder, as well as other related charges. He was taken into custody by the Department of Corrections and held on a no-bond status. Following a nine-day trial, in February 2023, a Prince George's County jury found the now 20-year-old Coleman guilty on all charges, including first-degree murder and two counts of using a handgun in a crime of violence. He faced a sentence of life in prison for his role in the death of Blake White.
