ELKTON — A man who allegedly shot a visitor dead at close range outside his residence near Elkton last month is now facing a new, more serious charge — first-degree murder — after a Cecil County grand jury handed up a 10-count indictment against him, according to Cecil County Circuit Court records.
Initially, when police investigators filed the criminal case in Cecil County District Court on June 20, the most serious charge that the defendant — Donald Raymond Snyder Jr., 41 — faced was second-degree murder, which carries a maximum 40-year penalty and does not include the element of premeditation.
But after the Cecil County State’s Attorney’s Office presented its case against Snyder to the grand jury last week, the 23-member panel returned an indictment that included first-degree murder, which is punishable by up to life in prison without parole and includes the element of premeditation.
The murder indictment, which the grand jury handed up against Snyder on July 3, also includes the same, six original charges against him, including second-degree murder, first-degree assault and reckless endangerment, court records show. It also includes four counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony or a crime of violence, according to court records.
Snyder is accused of gunning down Christopher Cimorose, 55, of Elkton, at approximately 9:20 p.m. on June 17 in the driveway of Snyder’s residence in the unit block of Locust Point Road, south of Elkton.
MSP troopers and other first responders rushed to that Locust Point Road residence at 9:24 p.m. on June 17, after Snyder called and told a 911 dispatcher, “Someone just got shot,” at that address, police reported.
“As the dispatcher was collecting the information on the call for service, she asked Snyder directly if he shot the gun. Snyder replied, ‘Yeah’,” according to the original charging document.
At the scene, troopers spoke to Snyder and his 46-year-old girlfriend, Michelle McCarthy, before driving them to the North East Barrack, where MSP Homicide Unit investigators interviewed them, police said. Investigators secured Snyder’s weapon, which had been placed in the bed of a pickup truck on the premises before first responders arrived, police added.
Paramedics pronounced Cimorose dead at the scene, police reported.
During the on-scene investigation, MSP detectives confiscated external security cameras on Snyder’s property, after obtaining a warrant to do so, court records show.
Investigators note in court documents that “a few of the cameras” faced the driveway “where the intentional killing of Cimorose took place,” and that they produced a video showing the fatal shooting and the events leading up to it.
Investigators had sent the confiscated DVR security system to MSP’s Digital Forensic Lab on June 19 and technicians there extricated a 19-minute-long, motion-activated video clip of what occurred outside Snyder’s residence two days earlier, court records show.
The video first shows Snyder and McCarthy exit the Locust Point Road residence and then get into McCarthy’s vehicle in the driveway at approximately 9 p.m. on June 17, with McCarthy sliding into the driver’s seat and Snyder getting into the seat directly behind her, police reported.
About two minutes later, the video shows Cimorose pulling into that driveway in a red Nissan Versa, according to court records, which indicate that Cimorose was there to pick up McCarthy. The document does not provide a reason why Cimorose was there to pick up McCarthy.
The video then shows McCarthy exit her vehicle and walk to the front passenger’s seat of Cimorose’s Nissan and Snyder walk directly to the open window of the Nissan’s driver’s side door, police reported.
“Snyder almost immediately punches Cimorose in the head/face area, as he was still in the vehicle. As a response to being punched, Cimorose’s vehicle lunged forward, dragging Snyder for a few feet,” according to the original charging document.
Before the Nissan came to a stop, Snyder armed himself, based on the footage, police reported.
“Synder removes 9mm handgun from his waistband and points it at Cimorose. Cimorose places his vehicle in park, opens his door (and) attempts to get out of his vehicle — at which time Synder fired three (3) times, striking Cimorose in the neck and chest area. Cimorose is observed falling to the ground next to his vehicle. Lying next to him was wooden table leg,” court records allege.
During his police interview at the MSP barrack later that night, Snyder maintained that Cimorose was the aggressor, court records show.
“Snyder stated ‘As far as I can see, the man grabbed a pipe and came at me.’ Snyder also stated, ‘I never wanted to do this’,” according to the original charging document.
MSP investigators consulted with the Cecil County State’s Attorney’s Office before filing criminal charges against Snyder on June 20, three days after the incident, court records indicate. Snyder reportedly surrendered himself to the Maryland State Police late on the night of June 20 at the agency’s North East Barrack, in accordance with arrangements that had been made amid the investigation.
Snyder remains in the Cecil County Detention Center on no bond, after appearing for a district court bail review hearing on June 21 and a then circuit court bail review hearing on July 8, court records show.
His murder trial is set to start on Dec. 2 and is scheduled to last five days, according to court records.
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