Man Held In Charles Homicide

Arrest Brings Relief To Victim's Mother

Shirley Smothers-Hart had waited more than five months to hear the news she received last week from Charles County detectives. Terrell L. Thompson, the man accused of killing her son, had been arrested.

"When they told me they found him, I just grabbed the detective, and I just held him," Smothers-Hart said. "My tears just rolled down. That's a good feeling. I swear to God, it's a good feeling."

Thompson, 36, of Waldorf, was arrested without incident Tuesday night in a Baltimore rowhouse in the 200 block of North Monroe Street, police said. On Wednesday, he was ordered held without bond in Charles County Circuit Court.

Thompson is accused of fatally shooting 33-year-old Michael Beverly, Smothers-Hart's son, and injuring his cousin Calvin L. Ross, 25, outside the Newburg Elks Lodge on June 28. Thompson was indicted in July on first-degree murder charges and other offenses.

Officers have not said what prompted the shooting but said it occurred after an argument about a woman. They said Beverly was trying to break up a fistfight between Ross and Thompson when Thompson pulled out a handgun and fired.

Ross, of Newburg, was shot in the legs, and Beverly, of Waldorf, was struck in the abdomen and head, charging documents say. Beverly was flown to a hospital, where he died. Ross's injuries were not life-threatening.

Thompson fled the scene and had been on the run, officers said. They "followed every tip that came in, but somehow, he managed to elude us," said Diane Richardson, a spokeswoman for the Charles County Sheriff's Office.

Officers would not say how they tracked Thompson to Baltimore.

Richardson said that no one else was in the house when Thompson was arrested about 8:30 p.m. She said officers recovered two handguns in the house and were trying to determine whether either had been used in the shooting. Officers also found documents indicating that Thompson was trying to get a passport, possibly with a fake ID, Richardson said.

Thompson has a criminal record that includes convictions in Charles for cocaine possession, transporting a handgun in a car, and fleeing and eluding, court records show.

Smothers-Hart, 52, of Bryans Road, said her son was a welder and avid motorcycle racer and called her every Friday. He was engaged to be married and had two children, a 7-year-old boy and 1-year-old girl, she said.

Smothers-Hart said she plans to follow Thompson through the court proceedings. "He shouldn't be allowed to be on the streets no more," she said.

Thompson was advised to contact the public defender at his court appearance Wednesday.