4th Teen Charged With Murder, Prosecutors Cite Street Gang Violence

GAITHERSBURG, MD — A fourth suspect has been arrested on murder charges nearly seven months after the shooting death of Taon Lamont Cline, 20, on Gunners Branch Road in Germantown, police said Friday.

Montgomery County Police detectives discovered evidence connecting Daylon Windell Miller, 17, of Germantown, to the April 22 homicide, according to a news release. Miller was arrested on Thursday, Nov. 17.

Officers found Cline the night of April 22 with multiple gunshot wounds after a caller reported a shooting. He was on the 19500 block of Gunners Branch Road, where he died, according to a police news release.

Malik Hney, 15, of Kensington, and Justin Acosta, 14, of Germantown were arrested May 3, while Malachi Hney was arrested on May 5. All four teens have been charged as adults, police said.

Miller was taken to the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit, where he has been charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, a police news release said.

The Washington Post reported two assailants wearing ski masks walked up behind Cline, and one of them fire four shots that struck Cline. Prosecutors in court hearings described the slaying as part of an escalating feud between street gangs in Germantown and Gaithersburg.

County Council President Gabe Albornoz told the Post that underlying social and cultural trends, exacerbated by access to easy-to-assemble “ghost guns” and the pandemic’s effect on youths, have pushed more toward violent activity.

“We are in a very tenuous situation,” Albornoz said. “It’s clearly escalating.”