On a February evening in 2020, the life of 17-year-old Bradley Alan Brown was tragically cut short in his own driveway in Bryans Road, Maryland. The son of a Prince George's County police officer, Bradley was a senior at North Point High School, where he was enrolled in the criminal justice program and had been a member of the cross-country team for four years.
He was also an Eagle Scout, remembered by those who knew him as a fun-loving young man with a bright future.
The events that led to his death began to unfold earlier that day when he reportedly arranged to sell THC vape cartridges through the social media platform Snapchat. That evening, on February 18th, shortly before 7 p.m., residents in the 3100 block of Warehouse Landing Road heard multiple gunshots. When officers from the Charles County Sheriff's Office arrived at the scene, they discovered Bradley in his driveway suffering from gunshot wounds to his chest and leg. Despite the immediate response from emergency personnel, he was pronounced deceased at the scene.
The subsequent investigation quickly revealed that the shooting was not a random act of violence but rather a targeted robbery. Detectives determined that the plan to rob Bradley had been orchestrated by three individuals. On the day of the incident, one of the suspects contacted Bradley under the pretense of purchasing the vape cartridges, which were valued at approximately $850. When the group arrived at Bradley's home, they announced a robbery, and during the confrontation, Bradley was shot and killed. The assailants then fled the scene in a vehicle.
Within a day of the shooting, the Charles County Sheriff's Office made its first arrest, taking 17-year-old Darryl Edward Freeman of Waldorf into custody. He was charged as an adult with first-degree murder and other related offenses. Shortly thereafter, two more suspects were arrested: 19-year-old Mikayle Qawwee and 16-year-old Keshawn Belasco, both also from Waldorf. Belasco was also charged as an adult with first-degree murder. The investigation uncovered that approximately two hours after the murder, Qawwee had attempted to sell the stolen THC cartridges.
The legal process that followed brought convictions for those responsible for Bradley's death. In May 2021, a Charles County jury found Darryl Edward Freeman guilty of first-degree murder and armed robbery. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison. In September 2022, after an eight-day trial, a jury also convicted Mikayle Qawwee of first-degree murder and armed robbery. In January 2023, Qawwee, who was the only adult involved in the crime at the time of its commission, was also sentenced to life in prison.
