Baltimore Murder For Hire Case File

The Case Overview

Baltimore prosecutors say Cornell Moore and Keith Brian Russell were not just tied to one shooting, one neighborhood beef, or one random act of violence. They were indicted in what authorities described as a murder for hire enterprise connected to seven homicides across Baltimore City and Baltimore County.

The case is disturbing because prosecutors did not describe them as public rappers, viral gang figures, or internet famous street names. This was different. This was alleged hidden work. Stolen vehicles. Carjacked vehicles. Abandoned cars. Burned cars. Money apps. Shell companies. Bank accounts in minors’ names. A quiet trail that prosecutors say connected multiple murders across different parts of the Baltimore area.

Moore was indicted on forty one counts. Russell was indicted on thirty seven counts. The charges included participation in a criminal gang, first degree murder, attempted first degree murder, conspiracy, firearm offenses, and other related charges.

The seven homicide victims named in the case were David Reid, Shabro Meredith, Rashad Dendy, Tyree Davis, Tayvon Scott, Yahmell Montague, and Angel Smith.

The timeline stretched from October of two thousand twenty through May of two thousand twenty two.

David Reid

David Reid Jr. was thirty two years old when he was killed on October third, two thousand twenty. Police responded to the twenty four hundred block of East Preston Street after reports of a shooting around one seventeen in the morning.

When officers arrived, Reid had been shot multiple times. He was rushed to the hospital, but he did not survive.

This is the first homicide publicly tied into the larger indictment. It became one of the early pieces in what prosecutors later described as a much bigger pattern of targeted violence.

Shabro Meredith

Shabro Meredith was twenty nine years old when he was killed on September fourteenth, two thousand twenty one, in the eighteen hundred block of North Smallwood Street.

This murder had one of the most important vehicle details in the case. Prosecutors alleged that members of the organization used identity fraud to buy a vehicle in California. That vehicle was then allegedly driven to Maryland and used by Moore and Russell to travel to the murder location.

After the killing, the vehicle was later found abandoned in Gwynn Oak.

The Meredith murder also had one of the strongest forensic details publicly reported. Investigators said the shooter lost a bucket style hat while running from the area. That hat was later tested, and police said it contained a DNA mixture from at least three contributors. Moore was allegedly identified as a match within that mixture.

That one piece of evidence mattered because this case was not built only on street talk. Prosecutors were pointing to movement, vehicles, DNA, and patterns.

Rashad Dendy

Rashad Dendy was thirty one years old when he was killed on December second, two thousand twenty one, in the thirteen hundred block of Gilmor Avenue.

Officers found him unresponsive with a gunshot wound shortly after three in the afternoon. He was transported to the hospital, where he later died.

Dendy’s murder stands out because of his background. He had recently been released from federal prison after serving more than seven years in a Gilmor Homes drug conspiracy case. After coming home, he had restarted his boxing career.

Then, not long after trying to rebuild his life, he was killed.

In the larger indictment, prosecutors connected his murder to the same type of pattern seen throughout the case: targeted violence, vehicle movement, and a trail that allegedly tied separate incidents together.

Tyree Davis

Tyree Davis was twenty six years old when he was killed on February eighth, two thousand twenty two, in the twelve hundred block of North Fremont Avenue.

Prosecutors alleged that Moore and Russell used the same vehicle connected to the Rashad Dendy case. That vehicle had reportedly been stolen from Crofton.

After Davis was killed, the vehicle was later ditched in Leakin Park and set on fire the same day.

That detail is important because Leakin Park already has a dark reputation in Baltimore crime history. In this case, prosecutors alleged it became the place where evidence was abandoned and burned after another killing.

The Tyree Davis murder pushed the pattern further. It was not just one car. It was not just one shooting. It was a repeated method prosecutors say kept showing up across the case.

Tayvon Scott

Tayvon Scott was forty three years old when he was killed on March second, two thousand twenty two, in Dundalk.

This killing is important because it extended the case beyond Baltimore City and into Baltimore County.

Prosecutors alleged that Moore and Russell drove up on Scott while he was sitting inside a minivan outside his home. Someone opened fire into the vehicle, killing him.

The Scott murder showed how wide the alleged operation had become. This was not just a city block case. It crossed jurisdiction lines. And according to prosecutors, the same vehicle pattern appeared again.

That same vehicle would later be tied to more violence.

Yahmell Montague and Angel Smith

Yahmell Montague was thirty seven years old. Angel Morgan Heather Smith was thirty eight years old.

Both were killed on May twelfth, two thousand twenty two, in the three hundred block of East Twenty Third Street.

Police said Montague and Smith were sitting inside a car when another vehicle pulled up and someone opened fire. Both victims were taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital, where they died.

Angel Smith was pregnant at the time of the shooting. Doctors performed an emergency delivery before she died. The baby survived.

That detail makes this double murder one of the darkest parts of the entire case. Prosecutors were already alleging a murder for hire enterprise connected to multiple killings, but this incident added another layer of horror. A pregnant woman was shot, rushed to the hospital, delivered a baby by emergency procedure, and died from the violence.

Prosecutors alleged the same vehicle connected to the Tayvon Scott killing and a nonfatal North Avenue shooting was also tied to the Montague and Smith double homicide.

That vehicle was later abandoned in West Baltimore.

Attempted Murders Connected To The Case

The indictment did not only involve the seven homicides. Prosecutors also tied Moore and Russell to nonfatal shootings.

On February twenty fifth, two thousand twenty two, two men were shot and survived in the twenty two hundred block of West North Avenue. Prosecutors alleged Moore and Russell used a vehicle that had been carjacked in Washington, D.C., about a month earlier.

On May third, two thousand twenty two, prosecutors alleged Moore and Russell attempted to kill someone in the seven hundred block of West Baltimore Street. The vehicle allegedly used in that shooting had reportedly been stolen in Hyattsville in March.

These attempted murders matter because they help explain how prosecutors connected the larger pattern. The same names. The same vehicle methods. The same kind of targeted violence. The same alleged trail of stolen and abandoned cars.

The Vehicle Pattern

One of the biggest pieces of the case is the vehicle trail.

Prosecutors alleged that stolen vehicles, carjacked vehicles, abandoned vehicles, and burned vehicles were repeatedly used across the shootings. One vehicle was allegedly purchased through identity fraud in California and brought to Maryland. Another was reportedly stolen from Crofton. Another was carjacked in Washington, D.C. Another was stolen in Hyattsville.

Some vehicles were abandoned after shootings. One was allegedly set on fire in Leakin Park.

That is what makes the case feel organized. Prosecutors were not just saying two men were involved in separate shootings. They were describing a repeated system: obtain a vehicle, use it during violence, abandon it, burn it, or move on to the next one.

The Money Trail

Prosecutors also alleged that the enterprise used shell LLCs, bank accounts in minors’ names, and money transfer apps to hide payments connected to violent acts.

That part is what separates this from a normal murder case.

Authorities were not just describing street violence. They were alleging a structure behind the violence. A way to move money. A way to hide payments. A way to separate the people ordering violence from the people allegedly carrying it out.

The phrase “murder for hire enterprise” is what makes this case so serious. Prosecutors were not only accusing Moore and Russell of killing. They were accusing them of being part of a larger system where murder was allegedly treated like paid work.

Current Case Status

As of the latest court information available, this case has not ended in convictions. Moore and Russell have been charged and indicted, but the charges remain allegations unless proven in court.

A jury trial was scheduled for May fourth, two thousand twenty six.

That means this case is still active. The seven homicides, the attempted murders, the stolen vehicle trail, the alleged money movement, and the murder for hire accusations are all part of what prosecutors are trying to prove in court.

The Case Summary

This case is not widely known online, but it has all the pieces of a major Baltimore crime story.

Seven homicide victims.

Two main defendants.

Multiple attempted murders.

Vehicles allegedly stolen, carjacked, abandoned, and burned.

A pregnant woman killed in a double shooting.

A DNA hit from a hat allegedly dropped near a murder scene.

A money trail prosecutors say involved shell companies, money apps, and minors’ bank accounts.

And behind all of it, the allegation that this was not random violence, but a murder for hire enterprise operating in the shadows of Baltimore.