In the summer of 2020, the life of a vibrant 17-year-old female named Ty Kerria 'Tootie' Dawson was tragically cut short, just one day before she would have celebrated her eighteenth birthday. A recent graduate of Antietam Academy in Hagerstown, Maryland, Ty Kerria had her whole life ahead of her, with plans to attend Hagerstown Community College to study criminal justice. She was known for her bright smile that could light up a room and her love for music, dancing, and basketball.
Her family and friends remembered her as a bubbly and positive person who was deeply family-oriented and dreamed of big things.
On June 27, 2020, her body was discovered in a wooded area behind Briargrove Court in Frederick, Maryland, by a passerby. An autopsy later revealed that she had suffered gunshot wounds to her head and a large laceration on her forehead. The investigation into her death quickly led authorities to believe that she had been targeted and that it was not a random act of violence.
The investigation soon zeroed in on two teenagers from Frederick: 16-year-old Richard Eugene Cartnail III and 14-year-old Caliyah Dawnae Lobaugh. It was revealed that Ty Kerria had been in a relationship with Cartnail. On the night of her death, she had gone to his home. Investigators learned of a plan to kill her, and that she and Cartnail had walked to a nearby wooded area where Lobaugh was waiting with a bag containing a handgun and a change of clothes. It was there that Cartnail shot Ty Kerria multiple times in the head. Both Cartnail and Lobaugh were arrested and charged as adults with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
In December 2021, a Frederick County jury found Richard Eugene Cartnail III guilty of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and being a minor in possession of a regulated firearm. In February 2022, he was sentenced to life in prison plus an additional twenty years. Caliyah Dawnae Lobaugh's case was reportedly handled in juvenile court in exchange for her testimony against Cartnail. The senseless act of violence left a community mourning the loss of a young woman with a promising future, a tragedy compounded by the young ages of those responsible.
