On May 26, 2009, the life of 37-year-old Grady Calvin E. Hawkins, a male resident of Capitol Heights, Maryland, was tragically cut short. He was discovered on the side of a road in Prince George's County with severe head trauma, including two gunshot wounds to his left eye. Rushed to Prince George's Hospital, he succumbed to his injuries five days later.
The manner of his death was classified as a homicide.
The investigation into the shooting led Prince George's County police to Martinez Diaz Ferrell. Following a trial by jury in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County, Ferrell was convicted of second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in connection with Hawkins's death. For these crimes, he was sentenced to life in prison for the conspiracy conviction and a concurrent term of twenty-five years for the second-degree murder conviction.
The case against Ferrell was built on evidence presented during the trial, which included testimony from the responding officer who found Hawkins, as well as expert testimony from the medical examiner who determined the cause of death. A firearms examiner also testified that the two bullets recovered were from the. 38 caliber class and were fired from the same unknown firearm. While the motive and the specific events leading up to the shooting were not detailed in the available documents, the conviction of Martinez Diaz Ferrell brought a measure of resolution to the violent death of Grady Calvin E. Hawkins.
