On a summer evening in Laurel, Maryland, the life of 17-year-old Dustin Steven Khoury was tragically cut short. On July 18, 2017, Khoury was found inside his car in the 1300 block of Larchdale Road, suffering from critical gunshot wounds. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he succumbed to his injuries shortly after. The male teenager, who was a rising senior at Meade High School with aspirations of attending college, was remembered by his father as a kind and motivated young man who
worked two jobs.
The investigation into Khoury's death quickly led authorities to suspect that the shooting was not a random act of violence. Police believed that Khoury had arranged to meet with the suspects to conduct an illegal transaction. During this meeting, an altercation occurred which resulted in Khoury being shot. A passenger in Khoury's car at the time of the incident was unharmed.
Within a week of the fatal shooting, three suspects were identified and taken into custody. Kalik Johnson, who was 18 at the time, of Laurel; 18-year-old Kylah Nettleton of Severn; and 17-year-old Darius Tarik Johnson of Upper Marlboro were arrested and charged with first and second-degree murder. Darius Johnson was charged as an adult. According to charging documents, Nettleton informed police that she witnessed the two male suspects get into a car with a teenager, heard gunshots, and then saw them emerge with guns before she drove them away from the scene. The three were held at the Department of Corrections on a no-bond status.
The legal proceedings that followed the arrests have been complex and not fully concluded for all involved. In April 2019, the trial for Darius Tarik Johnson ended in a mistrial after the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict. Following the mistrial, Johnson's defense filed a motion to dismiss the indictment on the grounds of double jeopardy. The outcome of this motion and details of any subsequent retrial for Darius Tarik Johnson have not been made publicly available. Similarly, the final dispositions of the cases against Kalik Johnson and Kylah Nettleton, including trial verdicts or any plea agreements, have not been publicly reported.
