Harford Sheriff: 34-Year-Old Baltimore Man Fatally Shoots Mother, 2 Other Relatives Inside Joppatowne Home Before Turning Gun On Himself
Slayings Double to 8 Number of Harford County Homicides This Year
By Gary Gately
journalistgarygately@gmail.com
By all appearances, it seemed like a trip from Baltimore to Harford County for a joyous get-together with loved ones.
A 34-year-old man and his 65-year-old mother headed to Joppatowne to visit the mother's niece and her 17-year-old son.
They arrived around 11:20 a.m. Saturday.
Within minutes of their arrival, the Baltimore man, Devin Brown; his mother, Sherlyn Ann Pitts, 65; her niece, Sheena Yvonne Smothers, 38; and her niece's 17-year-old son lay dead in the Joppatowne home, Harford County detectives say.
Brown, the detectives say, shot his mother and the two other family members to death, then turned his gun on himself.
Sheriff Jeffrey R. Gahler told reporters that deputies responded at about 11:20 a.m. to reports of gunshots inside a home in an apartment and townhouse complex in the 300 block of Trimble Road, about a quarter-mile from U.S. 40.Â
Deputies arrived within two minutes and found three of the victims dead, including Brown, and a fourth victim died of gunshot wounds after being flown to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, Gahler said.
Law enforcement officials had not determined a motive, but Gahler said someone inside the home opened the door for Brown and his mother and welcomed them into the home.
Court records show Brown had been charged with second-degree assault on July 12, 2017, in Baltimore District Court. In December 2017, prosecutors placed the case on the stet docket, which means the charge becomes inactive but not dropped.
That suggests the shootings resulted from a possible domestic dispute in Joppatowne, a quiet, middle-class community of roughly 13,500 people in southwestern Harford County.
The authorities evacuated the complex as a precaution and urged residents to reunite with their families at Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church at 622 Joppa Farm Road.
But Sheriff Gahler told reporters on Saturday afternoon that no danger remained for the community.Â
 "Sorry to be here standing in front of everyone today, another tragic day for our Harford County community. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those families that are going to be impacted by these horrific losses." — Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey R. Gahler
The slayings doubled the number of 2023 murders in Harford County, to eight, and came as the county mourns the death of Rachel Morin, the mother of five killed along the Ma & Pa Heritage Trail in Bel Air on August 5.
Sheriff Gahler, who has become a familiar face to millions across the world through his updates on the investigation into the murder of Morin, a 37-year-old mother of five children, told reporters Saturday: "Sorry to be here standing in front of everyone today, another tragic day for our Harford County community. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those families that are going to be impacted by these horrific losses."
Thank you for reading The Baltimore Observer. If you spot any errors, want to share news tips, pitch story ideas or submit a first-person piece, please get in touch. I’d love to hear from you. Thanks again for reading. — Gary Gately, Editor, The Baltimore Observer, journalistgarygately@gmail.com, 410-382-4364.