Murder of Columbia Man, Motivated by 'Grudge,' Leads to 10-Year Prison Sentence: State's Attorney

COLUMBIA, MD — A man was sentenced to 10 years in prison this week for the murder of a Columbia man in 2013 that was allegedly motivated by a longstanding grudge.

Raymond Gerod Smith, 48, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit second-degree murder and was sentenced to a decade in prison by Howard County Circuit Court Judge Lenore R. Gelfman.

A longstanding grudge, phone calls and a jailhouse informant linked Smith to the death of 39-year-old Omar Oliver, officials said.

The morning of Oliver’s death, police said a family member reported hearing arguing and then gunshots outside his apartment in Columbia.

Oliver, who lived in the 5200 block of Brook Way in Columbia, was shot multiple times at 1:30 a.m. on May 16, 2013, officials said.

His daughter called 911 and his wife, who saw a dark sedan leaving the area, administered CPR until medics arrived, according to the state's attorney. Oliver died on the grass near the Berkshires apartment building.

Following an investigation that prosecutors described as "lengthy," officials arrested Smith, of the 2700 block of Carver Road in Brooklyn, Maryland. Smith was extradited from Miami, Florida, to Howard County, where he was charged in June 2015 with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit second-degree murder and use of a firearm to commit a felony.

• Two Charged in Murder of Columbia Man
• Man Shot and Killed in Columbia in May 2013

Both Smith and Oliver had ties to the south Baltimore neighborhood of Cherry Hill, officials said.

Oliver was accused of killing a Cherry Hill man in 1999 who was Smith's friend; and although the charges were ultimately dropped, "in the Cherry Hill neighborhood...bad feelings persisted between Smith and Oliver..." the state's attorney reported. The murder victim, Shawn Sudler, lived in Cherry Hill, officials said.

Former Howard County prosecutor and Anne Arundel County Deputy State’s Attorney Claude deVastey-Jones said the Columbia man's killing was "pure vigilantism" motivated by a “grudge."

Smith apologized to Oliver’s family in the courtroom at sentencing on Jan. 27, where many members provided victim impact statements, according to the state's attorney.

Evidence linking Smith to Oliver's murder was allegedly found during a forensic analysis of cell phones recovered from a September 2013 high-speed chase in Baltimore City. In addition, a jailhouse informant from the Howard County Detention Center said that Smith admitted to killing Oliver because someone had ordered a hit on him.

Jailhouse phone calls between Smith and the second man charged in Oliver's murder — Sheldon Richburg — tied the two to the killing as well. Richburg will be tried for his role in Oliver’s murder on April 3, 2017.

Patch file photo.