The son of a pastor who is an advocate against gun violence was gunned down the night of July 28 in Annapolis. It is the seventh homicide in Annapolis this year, an increase for a city that normally sees two to three murders per year.
Charles Edward Carroll Jr. (Courtesy photo)
Charles Edward Carroll Jr., 25, of Baltimore, was found in his vehicle with gunshot wounds after his car crashed into the side of a townhouse in the Bywater Mutual Homes neighborhood, according to police. Carroll was taken to a local hospital where he died from his injuries. Carroll’s body was sent back to Baltimore’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner where an autopsy was performed.
Police were still seeking suspects as of Aug. 5 and the incident remains under investigation, according to Miguez.
The Rev. Charles Carroll, the victim’s father, is the pastor of New Creation Deliverance Church in Annapolis. He organized a gun drive in June as a way of lowering the rate of violence. The gun drive brought in two guns, a set of .25-calibre firearms turned in by a citizen who said they belonged to her husband.
“People don’t care until (a shooting) is in our backyard. Until it happens to you or your neighbor, it doesn’t feel real,” the reverend told the Capital Gazette in June. “We are trying to start something in this area here.”
Carroll had a hard time speaking on his son’s death. He said his son faced challenges in his life, according to the Baltimore Sun.
“He made mistakes in his life and paid the cost for them,” he said.
Carroll Jr. was convicted of possession of narcotics with the intent to distribute in 2012, and was sentenced to serve five years in prison, according to Maryland court records. In 2008, he was convicted of armed robbery and received a four year suspended prison term.
Still, his father said, his son “was a nice person.”
“Nobody deserves to die,” the minister added.
Carroll was raised in the Brooklyn area of Annapolis, just across the Anne Arundel County line.
According to his mother, Beverly Reed, her son was just a “loving and caring person” and was in the process of turning his life around. Carroll recently received his high school diploma at Anne Arundel Community College and hoped to open his own business one day.
“He was very excited,” Reed told the Sun.
Anyone with information about Carroll’s homicide is asked to contact Det. Charles Bealefeld at 410-260-3439. Anonymous tips can be submitted by calling Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-877-7LOCKUP.