Washington County homicides: Five this year as of Aug. 8

There have been five homicides in Washington County so far this year, with an arrest warrant out for one suspect as of Thursday.

Four of those homicides were in Hagerstown, three of them shootings. The fifth murder case was a shooting in Halfway investigated by the Washington County Sheriff's Office.

Here is a summary of the 2024 homicide cases:

Hagerstown Police continue to investigate murder of Kevin Shepherd in West End

Kevin Michael Shepherd , 38, of Hagerstown was found dead with an apparent gunshot wound around 9:50 a.m. on Jan. 26 in the area of Marshall Street and Vermont Avenue, according to Hagerstown Police and court documents.

Hagerstown Police charged three people in early February with Shepherd's murder, but those charges were dismissed in March because the evidence did not support convictions, Washington County State's Attorney Gina Cirincion told The Herald-Mail earlier this year.

"This is a complicated set of events with a lot of moving parts involving other jurisdictions," Hagerstown Police Lt. Rebecca Fetchu emailed in April.

Jenaro "JT" James Torres, 27, of Hagerstown, was recharged with Shepherd's murder in early July after Hagerstown Police submitted new, lengthier charging documents citing additional investigation and evidence.

The cases that were dropped were ones that had been filed in February against Emens "E" Lourdy Rho, 40, of Hagerstown, and Stephanie Nicolle Paulino, 35, of Hagerstown.

While charges were dropped against Rho and Paulino in the murder case, they continued to be held at the Washington County Detention Center, facing charges in other cases.

Hagerstown Police are continuing to investigate Shepherd's murder, Police Chief Paul Kifer said this week.

'Rough couple of weeks': Hagerstown Police chief talks about recent shootings

Teenager charged in Halfway shooting

Devin Anthony Meniefield, 23, of Hagerstown, was found shot in a home in the 17400 block of Maple Leaf Court around 1:25 p.m. on March 18, according to the Washington County Sheriff's Office.

Kamari Kenyon Meniefield, 16 at the time, was charged as an adult, accused of murdering Devin Meniefield.

Police searched the surrounding area and found Kamari Meniefield about 30 minutes later in the 1000 block of Noland Drive.

Hagerstown man accused of stabbing his live-in girlfriend

Renee Elizabeth Shoemaker, 57, of Hagerstown, was found dead the morning of April 28 after Hagerstown Police were asked to do a welfare check at her home in the 400 block of McDowell Avenue in the city's West End. Shoemaker had not shown up to work that morning.

Shoemaker was found with numerous stab wounds and police found a knife on the floor near her.

Hagerstown Police announced in late April they had a murder warrant for Cleo Hermon Brown, 51, of Hagerstown, who at the time was being held in a Harrisburg, Pa., jail.

Brown was extradited back to Washington County by mid-May, accused of stabbing his live-in girlfriend on April 27, according to court documents.

Shootings, letters and many questions: How can Hagerstown address crime issues?

One of two suspects in custody for shooting near downtown Hagerstown

Rusty Mark Edwards, 49, Williamsport, was pronounced dead at Meritus Medical Center after being shot shortly before 1 p.m. on Thursday, July 18, near downtown Hagerstown.

Tiheen Justice Nathan Matthews, 20, who had been with Edwards in a car parked along the 200 block of East Washington Street, also was shot.

Brandon Lamont Hinton Jr., 24, was charged the next day with Edwards’ murder. Hagerstown Police also have said they have a murder warrant issued for a second suspect in the shooting.

As of Thursday, that second suspect had not been apprehended.

The shooting resulted in gunfire in an area known to have busy vehicular and foot traffic.

The suspects approached the car on scooters with one appearing to argue with people in the car, according to charging documents that describe surveillance footage of the incident. Four people were inside the 2018 Kia Optima.

The first suspect opens a car door, pulls a gun and appears to back away, but then fires into the car’s rear window, court documents state.

Edwards is seen exiting the back passenger side and firing back, with gunfire exchanged. Then he gets back in the car and the car starts to leave, but only goes a short distance before stopping, according to video footage and a witness statement police cited in court documents.

A second suspect, whom police later identified as Hinton, had been on the sidewalk past the car. After the first suspect began shooting, Hinton is accused of pulling a gun and also shooting at the car, charging documents state.

Community comes together: Hagerstown's National Night Out happens to follow recent uptick in crime

Hagerstown man charged in shooting death of Waynesboro man

Tyrone Earl Nelson, 45, of Waynesboro, Pa., was shot the night of Thursday, Aug. 1, in the 300 block of North Jonathan Street. He was pronounced dead shortly later at Meritus Medical Center.

Brian Anthony Stuart, 24, of Hagerstown, faces murder charges , according to court documents. Stuart turned himself in around 2 a.m. that Friday at the Washington County Sheriff's Office.

Hagerstown surveillance camera footage shows a man police allege is Stuart pulling a gun on Nelson after what appears to be a disagreement, according to charging documents. There is fight and then Nelson clutches his chest as the other man points the gun at him, with a puff of smoke emerging from the gun.

Ways to submit crime tips to authorities

Crime tips can be submitted to Hagerstown Police by calling the Washington County Emergency Services nonemergency line at 240-313-4345, emailing crimetip@hagerstownpd.org, going to the police department's website or using the "See It, Send It" app, according to Lt. Rebecca Fetchu.

There are options at the police department's website to report a concern or submit a tip.

Tipsters can remain anonymous through any of those methods, said Fetchu, spokesperson for Hagerstown Police.

The Washington County Sheriff's Office recently launched an app , through which crime tips can be submitted, according to Sgt. Carly Hose.

When the sheriff's office issues a news release about a specific crime, the release may include an email or phone number for the investigator.

The general number for the sheriff's office is 240-313-2100.

If it is an emergency, dial 911.

Drug activity can be reported to the Washington County Narcotics Task Force by calling its tip line at 301-223-2632 or emailing cmiller@washco-md.net, according to the task force's website .

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Washington County homicides: Five this year as of Aug. 8