Defendant denies killing teen girl in 2020 Frederick homicide trial

Dec. 15—A Frederick teen accused of fatally shooting a 17-year-old Hagerstown girl in 2020 asserted his innocence in court Tuesday and said he felt pressured to give a false confession to police.

The events Richard E. Cartnail III presented to the jury contradicted the statements given by an alleged eyewitness Friday.

Cartnail, 17, is charged as an adult in the death of Tykerria Dawson and faces counts of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, using a firearm in a felony and possessing a firearm as a minor. He's being held without bail.

Dawson was found dead with gunshot wounds June 27, 2020, along Pike Branch Creek by Briargrove Court in Frederick, according to the Frederick County Sheriff's Office.

On Tuesday, Cartnail testified Dawson came to his residence on Rooks Court around midnight June 27, 2020, because she wanted to spend time with him leading up to what would have been her 18th birthday June 28. Cartnail, who'd been dating Dawson for several months, said she'd told him she was pregnant. Cartnail, who was 16 at the time, said he was excited to be a father and that his own father died from cancer when he was 7.

Cartnail told the jury he and Dawson were getting along and kissing in the residence when he got two calls from a girl. He tried telling Dawson not to worry about the girl, that she was nobody, then Cartnail decided to take a shower. When he got out, he testified, he could not find Dawson in the residence or in the immediate area outside the apartment. Cartnail said he texted Dawson asking her to contact him. Cartnail reportedly went to bed until he awoke when a friend knocked on his window around 3 a.m.

That friend who came knocking testified earlier in the trial as the state's witness and suggested Cartnail shot Dawson. (The News-Post is choosing not to name the witness due to an allegation that she was raped.)

The witness alleged earlier in the trial that Cartnail packed a bag with a handgun and told her to wait in the wooded area by the creek for him and Dawson. She testified to seeing Cartnail retrieve the gun from the bag and then hearing the sound of gunshots, followed by Dawson dropping to the ground.

Cartnail testified Tuesday he'd had a romantic relationship with the witness at the same time he dated Dawson, but ended things romantically with the witness when he thought Dawson was pregnant.

As Cartnail answered questions from Assistant Public Defender John Maclean, Cartnail repeatedly said he did not kill Dawson. Cartnail further stated he did not know who killed Dawson.

One hurdle Cartnail faced in convincing the jury was a recorded police interview from July 1, 2020, in which he confessed to killing Dawson after repeatedly denying doing so. Cartnail said Tuesday he made a false confession to end the interrogation and that he was intoxicated at the time.

"Whatever I said, it didn't matter," Cartnail testified, saying he was distraught and nervous. "[The police] were going to say whatever they wanted to say ... I was thinking of what could get me out of there."

Before Cartnail took the stand, Assistant Public Defender Matthew Frawley said police "coerced" a then-16-year-old Cartnail into making a false confession and failed to make clear that he could have his mother in the interview room with him.

Frawley discounted the state's case, saying, "It's all based on the testimony of someone who's been granted the sweetest deal I've ever seen."

The witness Frawley referred to has a plea agreement with the Frederick County State's Attorney's Office that would result in her charges being transferred to juvenile court in exchange for testifying truthfully in Cartnail's trial.

Frawley made these statements outside the presence of the jury during a motion argument before Judge Scott L. Rolle.

During cross examination, Assistant State's Attorney Laura Wilt asked if Cartnail thought falsely confessing to murder would end with him leaving the police station and going home.

No, Cartnail said, and he did not think about going to prison either. He just wanted out of that police interview room the fastest way possible, he said.

Wilt, in her questioning, suggested Cartnail purposely left his cellphone at home while he went to the creek. Cartnail first said his phone was with him all night in his residence after Dawson left, then as Wilt pressed him, he said his mother brought him his phone early in the morning June 27, 2020, after she found it outside their home.

Wilt presented photos from Cartnail's phone of him holding guns, which he said he borrowed from others. When Wilt asked about ammunition police reportedly found in his bedroom, Cartnail said he had it just to look at.

Cartnail denied obtaining a gun from his cousin "Chuck," whose legal name he could not recall. When Wilt asked about Dawson, Cartnail said she provided him a gun, then said she did not.

The state and defense rested Tuesday. Closing arguments are expected Wednesday morning.

Editor's note: Previous News-Post articles incorrectly identified the defendant as Cartnail Jr. His name is Richard E. Cartnail III.

Follow Mary Grace Keller on Twitter: @MaryGraceKeller