AUGUSTA — A dispute over money was at the heart of a shooting Sunday evening in the parking lot in front of Wal-Mart, according to a police affidavit filed in court.
That detail emerged as police Monday continued to piece together what led up to the shooting, while also looking for a person they say is a witness.
Read an affidavit in the case
Meanwhile, three of the four people arrested Sunday in connection with the shooting, which was apparently drug-related, made initial appearances in court Monday.
During the hearing for one of the suspects, Justice Robert Mullen said the scene seemed “like an old Western shootout out in the Wal-Mart parking lot.” The confrontation ended when two armed bystanders intervened, police said.
Arrested were:
• Kweasia “Reggie” McBride, 45, of Harlem, New York, charged with reckless conduct with a firearm, Class C, and aggravated trafficking in drugs (heroin), Class B. His bail was set at $50,000.
• Frankie Dejesus, 27, of Rochester, New York, charged with reckless conduct with a firearm, Class C, and aggravated assault, Class B. His bail was set at $25,000.
• Diana Davis, 28, of Rochester, New York, charged with aggravated assault, Class B. Her bail was set at $5,000.
• Samantha Tupper, 24, of Augusta, charged with probation violation and furnishing drugs (heroin), Class B. She is being held without bail.
The hearings for McBride, Dejesus and Davis at the Capital Judicial Center on Monday were via video link from the Kennebec County jail in Augusta.
An affidavit by Augusta police Detective Brian Wastella filed with the court outlines the investigation so far and indicates that those involved said “money being owed between parties” was at the heart of the dispute.
The affidavit says Tupper had been driving a Ford Taurus to Wal-Mart when she picked up McBride on Mount Vernon Avenue, and that a silver Volkswagen with Dejesus driving and three women passengers approached them there. Two of the women got into Tupper’s vehicle, and both vehicles went to Wal-Mart, parking side by side, and all the people got out.
Wastella said McBride, Tupper, Dejesus and Davis argued, and that some were telling Davis to stop.
McBride said he and Tupper got back into the Taurus when “he observed Dejesus point a handgun out the driver’s side of his vehicle at him. McBride stated in fear of being shot, McBride drew his handgun and began firing at Dejesus,” Wastella wrote. Dejesus told police McBride pulled the gun first and began shooting, so Dejesus fired back.
Wastella said McBride got out of the car once the shooting stopped and began fighting with Dejesus and Davis, with the two beating on McBride. Tupper told police Dejesus hit McBride with the butt of a gun while Davis held him.
Dejesus told police he and Davis fought with McBride in self-defense, Wastella wrote.
Tupper and McBride then drove away, and police later found them at Tupper’s residence on Mayflower Road.
Wastella also said McBride was bleeding from lacerations on his head and that police found 42 grams of heroin on him.
Davis and Dejesus were found in the Wal-Mart parking lot in the Volkswagen, which had a bullet hole near the driver’s side door.
Police found a firearm in the Volkswagen and another on the ground in the Wal-Mart parking lot, as well as bullet casings. There was no mention in the affidavit of any other firearms being located.
COURT HEARING
At Monday’s hearing, Mullen, the judge, told Davis that the charge of aggravated assault carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
Mullen agreed to Deputy District Attorney Paul Cavanaugh’s request to keep the $5,000 bail amount that was set by the bail commissioner with conditions that Davis have no contact with McBride, named as the victim of the assault, with Dejesus and with Tupper. Conditions also prohibit Davis from having firearms and dangerous weapons.
Jeffrey Towne, attorney of the day, said Davis indicated she can only raise $1,000 at the most.
“There’s no evidence she actually … handled a handgun or fired a shot in this incident,” he said.
Bail for McBride was continued at $50,000 with conditions that prohibit him from possessing weapons and illegal drugs and from contact with co-defendants.
He told the judge he intended to hire an attorney to represent him, but that he had yet to talk to anyone about it since he had just arrived at the jail.Towne, also representing McBride, said McBride requested bail be set at $5,000 cash.
Cavanaugh argued against lowering it, saying authorities have been unable to confirm McBride’s identity, coming up blank when running the address, Social Security number and date of birth that McBride provided.
“As I stand here today, I don’t know that this person is who he says he is,” Cavanaugh said, adding that results from fingerprints taken at the jail have yet to be returned.
Later, Cavanaugh described the heroin police found on McBride as “a block of heroin, not powder.”
Cavanaugh raised similar identity concerns about Dejesus as well in successfully arguing for Mullen to keep bail for Dejesus at $25,000.
All three defendants are scheduled for hearings in October.
Tupper is charged with violating probation and will be seen in court later this week for that and charges stemming from the Wal-Mart incident, Cavanaugh said.
POLICE WORK THE CASE
Augusta Police Lt. Chris Massey said Monday that what sparked the shooting is being investigated.
Police know that shooting broke out between people in cars that were parked next to each other shortly before 5:30 p.m. Sunday.
When the shooting stopped, Massey said, two men and a woman emerged from the vehicles and fought. McBride, who had cuts and bumps on his head, was apparently injured in that fight. Massey said he was later treated at a local hospital and that blood found at the scene is believed to have come from McBride.
At that point, he said, two bystanders, both armed with guns, broke up the confrontation.
“They had taken out their guns and told them to stop,” Massey said.
One of the vehicles stayed in the parking lot and the other left. That car was stopped by Hallowell police as it pulled into a residence on Mayflower Road just off Eastern Avenue.
“We were looking for the car. We knew who it was registered to, and we had a good idea where it was headed,” Massey said.
At the same time, police had a report of a person who had fled on foot. That prompted police agencies to set up a perimeter around a wooded area bounded by Civic Center Drive, Bond Brook Road and the entrance to the University of Maine at Augusta.
That person, Massey said, is believed to be a witness to the shooting.
“We believe it’s a woman,” he said. “We’ve identified her, but we have not been able to speak with her. She’s not from Augusta, and she’s not considered dangerous.”
Police are still tracing the ownership of the Volkswagen Passat that remained in the parking lot until it was towed, and they are piecing together what the relationship among the suspects is.
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