Murder, Shooting 2 Detectives: Man Pleads Guilty, Reports Say

Annapolis MD

24 November, 2020

9:17 PM

Description

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — A Pasadena man pleaded guilty to the murder of a Glen Burnie man and the shooting of two Anne Arundel County police officers, the state's attorney announced Tuesday. The accused man, Joseph Willis, will be sentenced on March 12, 2021. The 22-year-old faces up to three consecutive life sentences. The violence started on Feb. 5, when police got a call from the 600 block of Newfield Road in Glen Burnie. The caller told officers that he found his roommate beaten to death on the floor of their ransacked home. Police identified the man as Christopher Lawrence Jones. An autopsy ruled his death a homicide. The caller added that the Jones' 2010 Toyota Camry was missing. He believed one of Jone's friends, known only as "Joe," stole the car. The car popped up on a license plate reader in Brooklyn Park later that night. Anne Arundel County Detectives William Ballard and Ian Preece drove to Church Street, hoping to find the suspect. Preece spotted the car around 11 p.m., but the driver refused to pull over. An incident report said Ballard pulled up next to the suspect, who then shot Ballard in the face. The shot knocked out several teeth, forced reconstructive surgery and required Ballard to have his jaw wired shut for months. Medics took Ballard to the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore. Preece continued to follow the suspect. The report noted that the accused man also shot at Preece, striking his right arm, grazing the right side of his torso and hitting his headrest. Preece eventually struck the driver's side of the Camry, stopping the car. The suspect got out and ran away. Preece went to shock trauma soon after. The next day, police searched the Glen Burnie home. Officers found an empty gun shell, an ammunition box full of bullets and a marijuana cigarette. Investigators matched fingerprints found in the home to Willis, the report added. Later that day, police secured a search warrant for a home in the 1300 block of River Bank Court, where they found Willis and two "associates." The Anne Arundel County Police Department arrested all three people. Willis then admitted to murdering Jones and shooting Ballard and Preece. "I would like to first extend my deepest condolences to the family of Mr. Jones," Anne Arundel County State's Attorney Anne Colt Leitess said in a press release. "I'm grateful that Detectives Ballard and Preece who were simply doing their job by protecting our community continue to make remarkable strides in their recovery." Have a story idea? Please contact me at [email protected] with any pitches, tips or questions. Follow me on Twitter @JacobBaumgart and on Facebook @JacobBaumgartJournalist to stay up-to-date with the latest Anne Arundel County and Prince George's County news.