A Montgomery County Circuit jury on Friday convicted a Silver Spring man of second-degree felony murder for the March 2023 death of Walter Woods III, 20, of Takoma Park, the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office said Monday in a statement.
Javier Reyes, 22, also was found guilty in the Rockville court for the use of a handgun in a crime of violence for Woods’ death, the statement said. Reyes faces up to 60 years in prison.
He is being held in the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in Boyds where he awaits a Feb. 18 sentencing hearing, the state’s attorney’s office said.
Terry McGann, Reyes’ attorney, told MoCo360 on Monday that he was disappointed with the jury’s verdict but respected the decision.
“We will now focus on sentencing and then a possible appeal down the road,” McGann said.
The guilty verdict stems from a March 7, 2023, shooting on Hampshire Green Lane in Silver Spring. According to the state’s attorney’s office, a police investigation of the shooting determined that Reyes and Woods had “met at a neighborhood park to conduct a drug deal.”
According to charging documents, county police responded around 9 p.m. to the 1700 block of Hampshire Green Lane in Silver Spring for a “shots fired” call. Upon arrival, officers found an unresponsive Woods lying in a playground area of a nearby park. Woods was later transported to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead. Following an autopsy, the Washington, D.C., Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined Woods’ death was a homicide, charging documents said.
County detectives later identified Reyes as a suspect in Woods’ death and obtained an arrest warrant for him about two weeks after the shootings, police said. After his arrest, Reyes was ordered to be held without bond, according to digital court records.
Charging documents stated that two cellphones that were used and belonged to Woods were recovered at the scene and from that, text messages between Woods and a phone number, later identified as Reyes’, had discusses meeting up at the park. In addition, detectives used surveillance footage which showed a pickup truck at the scene that Reyes jumped into and fled from after the shooting.
While investigating the shooting, county police learned that Maryland State Police had been conducting its own investigation involving controlled buys of controlled dangerous substances, the state’s attorney’s office said. During that effort, controlled buys were set up with the same phone number that Woods had been in contact with, according to charging documents.
Reyes allegedly was also recorded on video selling drugs and discussing a handgun available to sell, the state’s attorney’s office said. In addition, Reyes posted a social media photo of himself with an identifying tattoo visible while holding the gun, which authorities believe is the murder weapon, according to the state’s attorney’s office.
After the shooting, Woods’ friends and family set up a GoFundMe fundraiser to help raise money for his family to cover the costs of his funeral. As of Monday the fundraiser is still active and has raised nearly $16,000 of its $20,000 goal.
According to a recent update on the GoFundMe, Woods’ parents, Sheron and Walter Jr., were asking family and friends to join them in the courtroom during Reyes’ trial, which began Dec. 16.
“In a case like this, it is important to show solidarity with the family and reinforce, for both judge and jury, that Walter Jr. had, and still has, a loving community of family and friends that surround him,” the fundraiser said.
