In the early evening of June 14, 2021, a burst of violence shattered the peace at Chancellor's Run Regional Park in Great Mills, Maryland. Valdez Rico Baker III, a 19-year-old male, was on the basketball court when he was tragically shot in the head. First responders arrived at the scene around 7:07 p.m. to find Baker suffering from the grave injury.
He was quickly transported by helicopter to a trauma center, but his injuries proved to be fatal, and he later succumbed to them.
The investigation into the shooting led authorities to two suspects. On June 23, 2021, James Reginald Flanagan, 24, of Lexington Park, was taken into custody by the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office Youth Gun Violence Task Force. The following day, Leonard Charles Hall III, 27, of Lusby, was apprehended in Frederick, Maryland, with the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force and the Maryland State Police Apprehension Team. Both men were charged with first-degree murder and second-degree murder for their roles in the death of Valdez Baker. Flanagan faced an additional charge of being an accessory after the fact to first-degree murder.
The legal proceedings that followed brought a measure of justice for Valdez Baker's family. In May 2023, a St. Mary's County jury found Leonard Charles Hall guilty of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder along with firearms offenses. Two months later, in July 2023, James Reginald Flanagan entered an Alford plea to conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and related firearm offenses. For his part in the crime, Leonard Charles Hall received a sentence of life in prison. James Reginald Flanagan was sentenced to a life sentence with 35 years of active incarceration.
