Investigators say the fatal encounter started in La Plata, ended in Charlotte Hall and now sits before a Charles County grand jury indictment.
CHARLOTTE HALL, Md. — The most haunting piece of the case against Dayton James Webber is where it ended: in a front yard off Newport Church Road, where a resident found Bradrick Michael Wells dead after prosecutors say he was shot during a fight inside a moving vehicle.
That discovery turned a late-night argument into a murder investigation stretching across county lines and into Virginia. Since March 22, authorities have traced the case through witness interviews, an out-of-state arrest, extradition back to Maryland, a failed bid for bond and, now, a first-degree murder indictment that places the matter before Charles County Circuit Court.
According to investigators, the first public sign that something had gone terribly wrong came when two passengers got out of Webber’s vehicle after the shooting and flagged down police around 10:30 p.m. in the La Plata area. Authorities say Webber had pulled over after shooting Wells and asked those passengers to help remove the body, but they refused and left. Their account gave deputies a starting point but not the victim’s location. That came later, when a resident in the 10000 block of Newport Church Road called 911 after finding a body in a yard nearly two hours after the passengers reached police. The victim was identified as Wells, a 27-year-old from Waldorf. For investigators, that sequence linked the roadside stop in Charles County to the quiet residential property in neighboring St. Mary’s County and established the route at the center of the prosecution’s narrative.
Authorities say the confrontation itself happened while Webber was driving with three other people in the car. Wells was seated in the front passenger seat, and two other passengers were in the back, according to court proceedings. Everyone in the vehicle knew one another, investigators said. What remains disputed is why the shooting happened. Prosecutors say witness statements describe an argument over a gun allegedly stolen from Webber by a friend of Wells, and over Wells’ continued friendship with that person. Defense lawyers say the conflict was much more immediate and dangerous, arguing that Wells threatened Webber and that Webber fired in self-defense. The state has publicly rejected that account. Karen Piper Mitchell, a deputy state’s attorney, said this week that investigators see “no evidence of self-defense.” Defense lawyer Hammad Matin answered that the case is one of “kill or be killed.”
The route did not end in Maryland. Detectives later found Webber’s vehicle in Charlottesville, Virginia, and located him at a nearby hospital, where officials said he was receiving treatment for an unspecified medical issue. He was arrested there as a fugitive from justice and later returned to Charles County. On March 31, jail officials booked him into the county detention center and said they would provide accommodations for his medical and mobility needs under the Americans With Disabilities Act. At an April 1 hearing, Judge Patrick Devine ordered Webber held without bond, pointing in part to his leaving Maryland after the shooting and to the violent nature of the allegations. Prosecutors have also noted that he owns firearms.
Monday’s legal update shifted the case into a new phase. Prosecutors said a grand jury approved an indictment on April 10, and they announced it publicly April 13. The six-count indictment includes first-degree murder, a firearm charge tied to a violent crime, two reckless endangerment counts and two counts related to possessing a loaded handgun in a vehicle. Future trial dates are expected to be set in circuit court. Publicly, some key pieces remain unclear. Authorities have not said whether any camera systems from the Tesla captured the moments before or after the shooting. They also have not detailed what physical evidence was recovered from the vehicle, beyond saying evidence from Virginia has been preserved and is being processed.
The case has drawn outsized attention because Webber was already known outside the courthouse. He is a professional cornhole player and a quadruple amputee whose athletic career had been celebrated in national media. But Wells’ family and prosecutors have pressed for a simpler reading of events: a homicide case in which a young man ended up dead in a yard after an argument in a car. The American Cornhole League said after the arrest that the matter was extremely serious and that its thoughts were with those affected, including Wells’ family and loved ones. Wells’ mother has rejected the defense argument and said her son had known Webber for years. As the case moves forward, the contrast between public biography and criminal allegations is likely to remain part of the wider attention, even as the court focuses on evidence, witness credibility and the path from La Plata to Charlotte Hall.
For now, the map of the case is fixed: La Plata for the shooting, Newport Church Road for the discovery, Charlottesville for the arrest, and La Plata again for the next circuit court steps.
Author note: Last updated April 14, 2026.