COLUMBIA, Md. — A Columbia man has been sentenced to two years in prison for a fatal shooting during a drug deal in Howard County last year.
21-year-old Tyquan Carter pleaded guilty on Wednesday to manslaughter and was sentenced to 10 years incarceration suspending all but two years.
Officials say on October 7th, 2019, at approximately 9:37 p.m., Howard County Police responded to a report of shots fired in the 9500 block of Sea Shadow in Columbia. Upon arrival, they wfound 19-year-old D’Marni Ware, lying on the ground in the parking lot.
He had been shot twice and another individual, 18-year old Jaiden Marquise Pender, had also been shot. Both men were transported to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.
Investigators believe Pender and Ware met up with Carter to complete a drug deal. During the drug transaction, Pender displayed a handgun and attempted to rob Carter.
Officials say this is when Pender and Carter struggled over the handgun. Ware exited the front passenger side of the vehicle and began assisting Pender. During the struggle, Carter gained control of the handgun and shot Pender and Ware.
Surveillance video captured part of the incident. Ware died as a result of the gunshot wounds he suffered that night.
On October 8th, police arrested Carter and charged him with attempted first-degree murder.
On March 24, 2020, DNA test results showed that a live bullet obtained from the floorboard of Pender’s vehicle was a match for D’Marni Ware. They also discovered that Pender and Ware had committed two robberies the same evening of the shooting.
Pender was arrested for these two robberies in June of 2020.
Pender admitted to setting up the drug deal, along with Ware, and intended to rob Carter during the transaction.
As a result of these findings, the Howard County State’s Attorney’s Office reduced the charges from first degree murder to manslaughter and offered Carter a plea agreement. Carter was also placed on 3 years of supervised probation and is not allowed to have any contact with the victim’s family.
