BALTIMORE, MD—A Baltimore County man has been sentenced to life in prison for a random road rage shooting that killed a woman and injured her passenger in Essex in 2023.
Rylan Picard-Kevin Harris, 31, was found guilty of shooting Shalia Hendrix, 31, in the back on May 5, 2023, while she was driving on Route 702. According to the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office, the incident occurred as Hendrix was traveling with a friend when she was shot from a nearby car traveling in the same direction. Her car spun out of control and crashed into a wooded area off Route 702 and near Eastern Boulevard. Hendrix died from the single gunshot wound.
The shooting appears to have been a random act of road rage with no known connection between Hendrix and Harris.
Baltimore County Police Department detectives, including Detective Metz and other members of the Homicide Unit, were able to use video surveillance from businesses and traffic cameras to identify the victim’s car and the car from which the shot was fired. They determined that Harris and his accomplice, Darashea Gross, followed Hendrix from Baltimore City onto I-695 and then to Route 702. Police also obtained surveillance video of Harris’ car after the shooting and its return to his residence in Baltimore City.
Harris was identified as the shooter and Gross pleaded guilty previously to being an Accessory After the Fact.
Judge Michael Finifter sentenced Harris to life in prison for the attempted first-degree murder of the passenger in Hendrix’s car and 40 years for the second-degree murder of Hendrix. He was also sentenced to a consecutive term of 20 years for the use of a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence. David Lemanski and Jessica Borits prosecuted the case.
“I want to express my appreciation to the excellent work of the Baltimore County Police in solving this senseless act of apparent road rage,” said Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger. “I offer my condolences to the family and loved ones of Ms. Hendrix and hope that the just sentence in this case will help in some way in coping with their loss.”
This article was written with the assistance of AI and reviewed by a human editor.
Photo by RODNAE Productions from Pexels
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