Per the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office: In the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, MD, the honorable Judge John Maloney has sentenced defendant, Zekale Long, 42, of Silver Spring, to life in prison suspend all but 15 years. Long pleaded guilty on October 27th, 2022, to Attempted First-Degree Murder and Use of a Firearm in Commission of a Felony Violent Crime.
Judge Maloney handed down the sentence yesterday. It stems from a shooting on June 12, 2022, inside of a convenience store at 14101 Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring. Long entered the store, argued with a female employee and fired at a male employee, grazing him with a bullet. The investigation by Montgomery County Police revealed Long had been in a previous romantic relationship with the female employee. She had entered into a new relationship, with the victim, about two weeks prior to the June 12th incident. Long admitted to police that he used a privately manufactured firearm or “ghost gun” that he purchased online and manufactured himself. Assistant State’s Attorney Donna Fenton prosecuted this case.
Original June 14, 2022 report: Montgomery County Police responded to a shooting at the 7-Eleven located at 14101 Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring at approximately 3:18am on Sunday morning. MCPD officers located two victims, Enrique Devaul and Kristie Thrappas, both employees of the store. Thrappas’ ex-boyfriend, Zekale Long, allegedly entered the 7-Eleven and shot at Devaul, grazing his midsection.
According to MCPD, “the investigation by detectives determined that the adult male victim was in the store when the suspect entered the store and began having an argument with him for dating his ex-girlfriend. The verbal argument escalated to a physical altercation when the suspect brandished a handgun and fired one round at the victim. The round grazed the victim who sustained minor injuries. The suspect fled the scene in a vehicle.
Throughout the investigation, the suspect was identified as 41-year-old Zekale Long of Silver Spring. Zekale was arrested and transported to the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit, where he was charged with attempted first-degree murder, first-degree assault, and use of firearm during the commission of a violent crime.” According to FOX 5, Devaul told police that he and Thrappas recently began dating and that Long had been posting negative comments about the relationship on Facebook.
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