Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess announced that Israel Thompson, 19, of Glen Burnie was sentenced to 22 years of active incarceration with the first five years to be served without parole and five years’ supervised probation upon his release in the shooting death of Marc Hill, 25.
The defendant pled guilty to Second Degree Murder and Use of a Firearm in a Crime of Violence on April 28, 2022 and was sentenced on June 10, 2022.
“Following a brief physical altercation between them, the defendant decided to shoot the victim in retaliation and then stole a nearby vehicle in an effort to flee the scene,” said State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess. “I’m relieved that the defendant is no longer on the streets and is being held accountable for his actions. I extend my heartfelt condolences to the loved ones of Mr Hill.”
Assistant State’s Attorney April Skrenczuk prosecuted the case on behalf of the citizens of Anne Arundel County.
On April 3, 2021, Annapolis Police officers responded to the Woodside Gardens community located in the 700 block of Newtowne Drive for a report of a shooting.
Upon arrival, police officers discovered an African American male, later identified as Marc Hill, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds at the bottom of the stairwell of an apartment building. The victim was transported to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Hospital where he eventually succumbed to his injuries the following day. The cause of death was ruled homicide by gunshot wounds.
During the investigation, detectives obtained video footage from the Woodside Gardens community which recorded the victim arriving at the apartment building. Mr. Hill entered the stairwell and began shooting dice with other individuals for several minutes. Video footage showed the victim engaged in a physical altercation with an unknown African American male wearing a dark jacket with a small light colored logo on the left upper arm. The male was later identified as the defendant, Israel Thompson.
The video footage showed the victim strike the defendant in the stairwell. The defendant then backed out of the stairwell into the yard area and fired a weapon at the victim. The defendant fled the apartment building and stole an unoccupied Hyundai sedan that the owner had left running and unlocked.
At the crime scene, several shell casings were recovered from the area where the defendant was seen on video footage firing the weapon. Additionally, police located several areas of what appeared to be blood on a path. Swabs were taken of blood from the scene which were later confirmed to be the defendant’s. Police later located the vehicle stolen from the scene.
On April 11, 2021, a search warrant was executed at the residence of the defendant’s family member and a sweatshirt worn by the defendant at the time of the murder was recovered. The sweatshirt was sent to the lab for testing and was shown to contain particles of gunshot residue on the sleeve. The police also located the purse, wallet and identification of the owner of the stolen vehicle.
On May 18, 2021, the defendant was arrested and admitted to being in the Newtowne area at the time of the incident. He further admitted that he was involved in an altercation, possessed the fired gun, fled the scene in the stolen car, but denied shooting the victim.
The Honorable Richard Trunnell presided over the case.
