SALISBURY — One of three Lower Shore men arrested last week for the murder of a Fruitland teen was arrested in Ocean City just two weeks earlier for the burglary of a downtown condo.
The 17-year-old Fruitland teen was shot while in the parking lot of the America’s Best Value Inn on N. Salisbury Blvd. as he left a party just after midnight on Sunday, Aug. 1. The investigation revealed the suspects, who were allegedly involved in an earlier altercation at the party, returned to the motel and fired multiple gunshots into a crowd of people congregating in the parking lot.
The investigation identified three suspects, including Jarrett Vaughn Stokes, 18, of Delmar; Larry Allen Lamar Dennis, 20, of Salisbury; and Ky’Shir Tariq Connally, 18, of Delmar, each of whom was charged last week with first-degree murder in the shooting death of the Fruitland teen. For Connally, the arrest on first-degree murder and other charges was just the latest in a recent series of run-ins with law enforcement, including an arrest on first-degree burglary in Ocean City in July when he and others allegedly broke into a downtown condo and stole, among other things, a pair of Air Jordan basketball shoes that helped police identify him as a suspect.
Around 12:50 a.m. on July 14, Ocean City Police responded to the White Marlin condominiums on Somerset Street for a reported burglary in progress. After learning from the property owner he was not in Ocean City, nor did he have any renters or anyone else allowed access to the condo, police set up a perimeter and made their way up to unit 202.
The officers approached the unit, with lights on inside, and after knocking on the door found the front door knob to be broken and unlocked. The officers made contact with the occupants including Connally and others and ordered them to come out and get on the ground.
The property owner told police the unit had been broken into back on July 1 and that he believed the perpetrators entered through a window and that his son’s black and red Air Jordan basketball shoes, size 11.5 had been stolen. A prior report had been filed for that incident. As the officers were detaining suspects found in the same unit early Wednesday morning, they found Connally to be wearing Air Jordan shoes matching the exact color scheme and size as those reported stolen in the earlier incident.
Upon questioning, Connally told police he was trying to find a place to party in Ocean City and knew about the unit at the White Marlin condo. He told the other three suspects he knew about the condo and found it to be unlocked, information he related to the other three suspects. Connally told the police he had partied in the vacant condo about two weeks earlier, which corresponds with the first reported break-in and theft of the shoes back on July 1. Connally told police he bought the Air Jordan shoes at a store about three months earlier, but could not provide any details about where, what store or when he bought the shoes.
At that point, Connally was arrested for first-degree burglary, theft and other charges. When questioned further, Connally told police on July 1 he was at a downtown underage nightclub when he met a female known to him only as Sasha. Connally said Sasha entered the unit at the White Marlin condominiums through a window and let Connally in the front door where the pair had consensual sex and then left. Connally told police he saw the Air Jordan shoes at that time and really liked them, so he took them. Two weeks later, Connally returned to the unit with another man and their two female companions and broke into the front door where they partied until police arrived just before 1 a.m.