On the evening of June 14, 2024, Keion Damont McKinney, a 34-year-old Black/African American man from Severn, Maryland, was killed in what police described as a targeted shooting. At approximately 7:20 p.m., McKinney had just stepped out of a townhome in the 1600 block of Meade Village Circle when a male suspect confronted him in the backyard. The suspect fired a single shot before fleeing the scene. When Anne Arundel County Police officers arrived, they found McKinney behind the building suffering from gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy later determined his death was a homicide caused by a single gunshot wound to the head.
Homicide detectives immediately took over the investigation. By reviewing surveillance footage from the area, they were able to see the gunman fire the shot and then walk away toward a black 2004 Lincoln Navigator that had distinctive exterior damage.
The investigation also uncovered an Instagram account belonging to a "Deandre Sharps" whose biography advertised that he engaged in murder for hire. Investigators learned that McKinney’s killing was targeted and that the shooter expected to receive payment and marijuana in exchange for committing the murder.
A break in the case came on July 6, 2024, when Baltimore City Police arrested a young man named Deondre Tywon Sharps for operating a stolen vehicle. Inside the car, officers recovered a handgun. Ballistics testing later confirmed that the firearm was consistent with the weapon used to kill Keion McKinney. On September 10, 2024, authorities announced that Sharps, then 18 years old, had been charged with McKinney's murder. At the time, Sharps was already incarcerated in Baltimore on other matters.
Investigators also charged Sharps with a second, unrelated homicide that occurred 15 days after McKinney's death. The victim in that case was 34-year-old Joshua Ray Holland, who was killed in Brooklyn Park on June 29. Police stated there appeared to be no connection between McKinney and Holland. On October 1, 2026, Deondre Tywon Sharps, then 20, pleaded guilty in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court to first-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence for the death of Keion McKinney. He entered the same plea for the murder of Joshua Holland. As of October 2026, sentencing was scheduled for January 25, 2027.
