The district court has found the suspect guilty of the 2020 murder of a Hagerstown teenager
FREDERICK, Md. (WDVM) – A Frederick man will serve two life sentences plus an additional 20 years for the June 2020 murder of a 17-year-old Hagerstown girl.
Eighteen-year-old Richard Cartnail III was sentenced to two life terms by the Frederick County Circuit Court for first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. He was also sentenced to an additional 20 years for using a firearm in the commission of a felony and 5 years for possession of a regulated firearm while a minor.
The two life sentences will be served concurrently, meaning they will be served at the same time, while the additional 20-year sentence will be served upon their completion. The 5-year sentence runs concurrently with the life sentences.
17-year-old Ty’kerria Dawson was killed just a day before her 18th birthday in June 2020, when Cartnail was 16.
Her body was found near a hiking trail near Briargrove Court near Ballenger Creek Middle School in Frederick.
Just after 5 p.m. on June 27, 2020, deputies from the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office were called to a wooded area at the end of Griargrove Court for a report of a deceased person by a resident walking in the area. Officers found Dawson’s body near a creek bed and during the investigation detectives at the scene found several .45 caliber bullet casings.
Investigators later learned that Cartnail and the victim were in a relationship, and Cartnail described a plan to kill Dawson. Dawson traveled to Cartnail’s home late June 26, 2020. Shortly after she got there, Cartnail and Dawson walked from Cartnail’s apartment to a nearby wooded area where Caliyah Lobaugh, who is also a suspect in the incident, was waiting with a handgun and a clothes change.
Cartnail then shot Dawson three times in the head.
A Frederick jury found Cartnail guilty of the listed offenses at a December 2021 trial. Judge Scott Rolle ordered Cartnail’s immediate transfer to the Department of Corrections.
