In the early evening of March 15, 2020, the sound of gunfire shattered the quiet of an Annapolis neighborhood. When police arrived at the unit block of Bens Drive, they discovered the body of Leslie 'Les' Saunders, a 49-year-old male, lying outside between two apartment buildings. He had been shot multiple times and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The initial investigation suggested the shooting occurred right where his body was found, launching a homicide investigation that would uncover a cold and calculated plot.
As detectives delved into the case, they began to piece together the events that led to Saunders's death. Their investigation revealed that this was not a random act of violence but a murder-for-hire. The plot was orchestrated by Thomas Deangelo Smith, who was angered by a verbal argument that had occurred earlier that day between his mother and Saunders, her longtime boyfriend. In the aftermath of the dispute, which resulted in his mother being taken to the hospital for a medical concern, Smith sought deadly revenge. He contacted Michael Davon Gibson, a man with whom he was associated, and offered him money to kill Leslie Saunders.
The agreement was sealed for the sum of $3,200. Smith paid Gibson $2,000 upfront, with the remaining $1,200 to be paid after the murder was completed. On that fateful Sunday, surveillance footage captured Smith and Gibson meeting before the killing. Smith then drove Gibson to the vicinity of Marcs Court, where they located Saunders walking in the community. As Saunders walked between two apartment buildings, Gibson approached him and opened fire, fatally wounding him. Gibson then fled the scene in a Ford F-150 truck that Smith had waiting nearby.
The Annapolis Police Department, with assistance from the Anne Arundel County Police Department, identified Michael Gibson as the shooter through their investigation, which included reviewing the video surveillance that captured parts of the crime. Gibson was arrested on April 3, 2020, and charged with first and second-degree murder, along with seven other criminal charges. A couple of months later, on June 11, 2020, Thomas Deangelo Smith was also taken into custody and charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and being an accessory after the fact. Both men were held without bond at the Jennifer Road Detention Center.
In the ensuing legal proceedings, both men were held accountable for their roles in the murder of Leslie Saunders. Thomas Smith entered an Alford plea to first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison with all but 25 years suspended. Michael Gibson pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and the use of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison with all but 80 years suspended. The resolution of the case brought a measure of closure to the community, though it could not undo the tragic and senseless loss of a man's life over a verbal dispute.
