18-Year-Old Pleads Guilty to Killing Annapolis Cabbie

Nearly one year after the murder of an Annapolis cab driver, a Charles County man has pleaded guilty to the crime, avoiding a trial.

Trevor Allen Snead, 18, of 9830 Sodus Manor Place in Faulkner, pleaded guilty in court Tuesday to second-degree murder, armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery and a firearms offense for the shooting death of Benjamin Kirby Jr. The victim was a 41-year-old cab driver from Annapolis who had been working to turn his life around, the Capital-Gazette reports.

A sentencing date has not been set, but Judge Paul Harris Jr. will sentence Snead to 90 years in prison with all but 55 years suspended, according to the news outlet. Snead will be eligible for parole.

Kirby’s father, Benjamin Kirby Sr., told the Capital Gazette he was not pleased with the plea deal.

Snead, who was 17 at the time of the murder, was charged as an adult. If he had gone to trial and been convicted of first-degree murder, he could have faced life in prison.

“I wanted to see to it that both of them would never hit the streets free again,” Kirby said.

Snead was one of two people charged for the murder. Michael Juvan Wallace, 24, of the 2900 block of 2nd Army Drive in Fort Meade has a hearing scheduled for Feb. 13, according to Capital Gazette.

The Murder and Arrest

On March 12, 2014, Anne Arundel County police officers found Kirby’s minivan cab unoccupied in the area of Honeysuckle Lane near Generals Highway, Patch previously reported. Officers searched the area and discovered the victim’s body with what police referred to as “upper body trauma.”

While the homicide investigation was ongoing, Anne Arundel County Police Department responded to a burglary in the 700 block of Governor Bridge Road on March 14. Officers found Snead inside the residence.

A truck found by officers at the scene of the burglary was reportedly stolen by Snead from Charles County. Detectives executed a search warrant on the truck and found multiple pieces of evidence linking Snead to the Kirby homicide, police said.

A pair of pants inside the truck reportedly had apparent blood stains on them; investigators determined the blood on the pants was that of Kirby. Rounds of .45 caliber ammunition in the truck were consistent with what was recovered from the homicide crime scene, and several latent prints from the driver’s door of Kirby’s taxi matched Snead, police said.

On March 19, Snead was arrested in the Kirby homicide. Authorities say Snead admitted his involvement in the murder, as well as his associate, Wallace.

Homicide detectives secured an arrest warrant charging Wallace with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit second-degree murder, armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, first-degree assault, second-degree assault, firearm use/felony violent crime, handgun on a person and handgun in a vehicle.

Wallace was arrested and reportedly admitted to his role in the robbery and death of Kirby.

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