Lawyer: Slain ice cream driver was stalking shooting suspect
FREDERICK, Md. - The lawyer for a man charged with fatally shooting an ice cream truck driver as children lined up outside for treats says his client had been stalked for months by the man he's accused of killing.
Larnell Lyles' defense attorney Carl Somerlock said Tuesday that Brandon Brown had been trying to find and kill Lyles over a $20 debt. The lawyer's version of events was first reported by The Frederick News-Post.
Somerlock says Lyles, 27, was surprised Saturday when he went to buy ice cream in Frederick, Md. for some children and saw Brown, 22, in the truck. The lawyer won't say whether Lyles shot Brown.
According to the paper, Somerlock says Brown violently confronted Lyles at least three times since February - and at least one of those times, Brown was armed with a gun.
Police say they are investigating a motive. A man who was helping Brown sell ice cream has told police there was no argument before Lyles pointed a revolver and fired.
But Somerlock says Brown and the man who was in the truck with him have "been looking for my client to kill him."
"These two men were not professional ice cream vendors," Somerlock said during a bail hearing Monday, according to the paper. "Their professions lie elsewhere."
He added, "They were stalking the two areas where they knew my client hangs out. The use of the ice cream truck was a means of being clandestine."
Lyles was arrested hours after the shooting and is charged with first-degree murder and with using a handgun in the commission of a felony, reports CBS affiliate WUSA. Authorities say more charges are possible.
He is being held without bail and his next court appearance is scheduled for July 9.