Crowner was found guilty in December of murdering Walters Elangwe, a Cameroonian immigrant looking to buy an iPhone for $600. On July 11, 2020, Elangwe drove to the 1100 block of Primrose Court and waited in a parking lot for the seller.

Eyewitnesses reported seeing two people near his car and another individual on a nearby side street. . The person closest to the car fired their gun nine times and all three ran toward a path leading into the Harbour House neighborhood.

Evidence, including cellphone records and surveillance footage, led police to identify Crowner as the shooter, according to the release.

During Crowner’s trial, Assistant State’s Attorney Brian Pritchard said Elangwe’s windshield looked like “a slice of Swiss cheese” by the time the shooting stopped. Elangwe, 29, was taken to Anne Arundel Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

“Walters Elangwe met with the defendant for what he expected to be a quick sale of a smartphone. Instead, the defendant shot him without a second thought of the life he was taking,” State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess said in a statement. “This is the second murder conviction [in Anne Arundel County] for this defendant, making it clear he has no regard for human life and is a significant danger.”

Crowner was charged with Elangwe’s murder in 2022, two months after he was arrested for the death of Devin Freeman.

In 2023, Crowner submitted an Alford plea to first-degree murder and a firearm offense in the Freeman case, meaning he did not admit guilt but acknowledged prosecutors had enough evidence to convict him. Freeman, 19, was found dead near the Gonce Funeral Service in Brooklyn Park the year before.

Freeman met Crowner at a 7-Eleven store along Ritchie Highway after 3 a.m. in February 2022 to sell Crowner marijuana. Officers reviewed security camera footage showing Freeman meeting Crowner, then walking across the street with him toward the funeral home.

A third person, later identified as Devin Twigg , from Nottingham, is captured on camera following them. At the funeral home, a struggle between the trio ensued, and Freeman collapsed. Footage showed the two others moving Freeman’s body, before walking “back and forth” along the road together.

Freeman’s body was discovered in a trash container. A recorded phone call between Crowner and Twigg led investigators to charge Twigg in Freeman’s death. Police said at the time Crowner called Twigg while in jail and instructed him to destroy clothing and alter his appearance to avoid being arrested.

Twigg was arrested in August 2022 and was sentenced to life in prison, with all but 32 years suspended in April 2024. Crowner was sentenced to life in prison with all but 50 years suspended in June 2023 .

“The life in prison sentence will be served consecutively to [Crowner’s] prior sentence of life in prison with all but 50 years suspended. So, when the first sentence is completed, the life in prison sentence will begin,” Heather Stone, spokesperson for the Office of the State’s Attorney said in an email.

Efforts to reach Tyler Mann, Crowner’s attorney, were unsuccessful.