In the late hours of a March night in Waldorf, Maryland, the life of 18-year-old Walter Eugene Thomas was tragically cut short. On March 4, 2019, while walking with a friend on Fairchild Court, Thomas was approached by two individuals in a car who announced a robbery. As he tried to flee, one of the suspects opened fire, striking him. Despite his efforts to escape, Thomas collapsed on a bike path off of Freemantle Court, where he succumbed to his injuries.
He was pronounced deceased at the scene in the early morning hours of March 5, 2019.
The investigation into the seemingly random act of violence led detectives from the Charles County Sheriff's Office to identify two suspects: Michael Rashid Moore, 22, of Waldorf, and Darren Earl Miller, 24, of Washington, D.C. The breakthrough in the case came as investigators were looking into another shooting that had occurred a day prior on Amber Leaf Place. Moore was identified as the shooter in that incident, which was not random and stemmed from an argument. While in custody for the Amber Leaf Place shooting, detectives were able to link Moore, along with Miller, to the murder of Walter Eugene Thomas.
In May 2019, both Moore and Miller were charged in connection with Thomas's death. Miller was arrested in Washington, D.C., and extradited to Charles County. Moore, who was already incarcerated for the previous shooting, was served with a new warrant. The charges for both men included first-degree murder, second-degree murder, and other related offenses. Investigators determined that the fatal shooting of Thomas was a random act. Subsequently, in January 2020, Michael Rashid Moore pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit the first-degree murder of Walter Thomas. Moore had admitted to detectives that he conspired with another individual to commit a random armed robbery that would result in a shooting if the victim resisted, and he supplied the bullet for the shooting.
