Howard County police today arrested a man of no fixed address and charged him in the May 17 killing of a Columbia man at an Oakland Mills apartment complex.

Police charged Ronald Derrick McConnell, 21, with first- and second-degree murder, assault and reckless endangerment in the shooting death of Jason Batts.

Batts, 23, of Long Reach, was shot to death at 2:50 a.m. May 17 in the parking lot of the Stevens Forest Apartments, on Stevens Forest Road in Oakland Mills, police said.

McConnell was arrested at about 1 p.m. in front of a relative's house in the 9400 block of Merryrest Court, in Oakland Mills, after he was spotted by a patrol officer, according to police.

Detectives recovered part of a shotgun at the scene of the shooting and found a fingerprint belonging to McConnell on plastic tape wrapped around the weapon, police said.

Investigators also received information from informants that McConnell was involved in the shooting and had been seen with a shotgun matching the one investigators recovered at the scene, police said.

Detectives believe the shooting resulted from an ongoing dispute, according to police. McConnell had not had a bail review as of this afternoon, a District Court spokeswoman said.

Police Chief William McMahon has scheduled a community meeting tonight to discuss Batts' shooting and a second, non-fatal shooting that occurred in Oakland Mills, near the Shadow Oaks apartments on Thunder Hill Road, at 1:12 a.m. May 18.

In the second incident, Ronald Hamblin, 24, of Harper's Choice, was shot in the shoulder during a fight between two groups of people, according to police.

Hamblin was transported to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center on May 18, where he was treated and released, police said.

McMahon's meeting is slated for 6:30 p.m. May 20 in the loft of The Other Barn, in the Oakland Mills Village Center, at 5851 Robert Oliver Place in Columbia.

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