Homicide Defendant Released For Lack of Probable Cause

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After reviewing the evidence, DC Superior Court Judge Maribeth Raffinan ruled against probable cause in homicide case on Oct. 2, ordered the matter dismissed and the defendant released.

Lawrence Bradshaw, Jr., 18, was charged with first-degree murder while armed for his alleged involvement in the fatal shooting of 38-year-old Ricky Canty on the 400 Block of Sheriff Road, NE, on April 24.

According to court documents, Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers responded to reports of a shooting where they found the victim conscious and breathing, suffering from gunshot wounds. Officers transported the victim to Medstar-Washington Hospital Center, where he was pronounced dead.

On Sept. 30, the lead detective testified that eyewitnesses and surveillance cameras captured four masked individuals, some armed, getting out of a car and approaching a deli. One eyewitness recalled one of the suspects approaching him and saying, “You know what time it is?”

Canty was shot outside of the deli, and the suspect vehicle, which was recovered in a car accident as it fled the murder scene, had a phone registered to Bradshaw’s father but used by Bradshaw himself, as well as 18-year-old Jaylen Suggs’ cell phone. Suggs is a co-defendant whose case is proceeding.

The prosecutor said people are always with their phones, so Bradshaw’s phone being in the car places him in the car at the time of the crime.

Judge Raffinan stated that although Bradshaw’s phone places him in the car at some point, it is unclear if he had the phone at the time of the shooting, or if he had previously left his phone in the car.

There is also no evidence that Bradshaw was using his phone at any point close to the time of the murder, or even on the day of the murder, Judge Raffiinan concluded. There are also no eyewitnesses that identify Bradshaw as the shooter or as any of the four people who got out of the car at the scene of the crime.

Therefore, Judge Raffinan ruled the prosecution has not established probable cause and dismissed the case without prejudice meaning it can be tried again if prosecutors gather additional evidence.