Annapolis man accused of shooting six, killing three, claims self-defense

Defense attorneys for an Annapolis man charged with the alleged hate killings of three men in a neighborhood parking space say he will claim self-defense and want the FBI to turn over information about alleged “criminal ties” of one of the victims. .

Attorneys with the Maryland Public Defender’s Office filed court papers late last week in U.S. District Court on behalf of Charles Robert Smith, whose trial is scheduled in state court next month. They say the FBI has investigated alleged ties between one of the victims, Mario Mireles Ruiz, and other members of his family “with violent gangs such as the Mexican Cartel, as well as the Mireles family’s efforts to finance the contract killing of” Smith. . .

“Mr. Smith claims self-defense against violent gang members in this case,” wrote Deputy Public Defender Deborah Katz Levi.

They want a federal judge to order the FBI to turn over more information and force the agents to testify. A state judge in Anne Arundel County already ordered him to do so in November, but the FBI refused and filed a motion to vacate the order last month, citing “sovereign immunity.”

Smith, 45, was indicted in July 2023 and charged with six counts of attempted first-degree murder, three counts of first-degree murder substantially motivated by hatred of persons of Hispanic national origin and other charges.

The three men who were killed on June 11, 2023 were Mireles Ruiz, 27, of Annapolis; Nicolas Mireles, 55, of Odenton; and Christian Marlon Segovia Jr., 24, of Severn. Three other people were injured.

The shootings caused a torrent of pain in the Latino community of Annapolis and beyond. Mireles Ruiz and Mireles were small business owners and Segovia was finishing his studies to be a mechanic. At a vigil last year, Segovia’s family said they were offended by defense attorneys’ suggestions that the victims had gang ties; The recent filings do not accuse Segovia of criminal activity.

Attempts to contact representatives of the Mireles family were unsuccessful.

In court documents, prosecutors filed hate crime charges against Smith, saying the two families had disputes for years, and one of the eventual victims accused Smith’s mother of using racial slurs toward him and his family and other neighbors. that they were black.

Smith’s attorneys in court papers laid out their client’s version of what happened that night. They previously said Smith, who lived with his mother, is an Army veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. He had been sailing in Round Bay and returned home with his 16-foot sailboat, Latitude Adjustment.

At the time, the Mireles family was hosting a birthday party with 40 to 50 guests, and Smith was unable to park her car because a partygoer’s vehicle was blocking her driveway, according to Smith’s attorneys.

Smith saw his mother having a “heated verbal argument” with Mireles Ruiz, according to court documents. His attorneys say Smith was familiar with Mireles Ruiz’s “reputation for violence and gun possession from previous incidents” and took a Glock pistol from inside his home to protect himself and his mother.

They say Mireles Ruiz “violently threw (Smith) to the ground and grabbed his Glock pistol.” During the struggle, Smith shot Mireles Ruiz several times at point-blank range until he stopped moving.

Segovia began approaching Smith, according to Smith’s attorneys. Believing Segovia to be armed, Smith shot him several times.

Other partygoers responded, Smith’s lawyers said, and Smith retreated to his mother’s house. “At that time, several individuals attempted to break into (Smith’s) home by breaking the main pane and one of the side panes of the front window” of the home, Smith’s attorneys wrote.

Smith retrieved an AR-15 rifle and “began shooting at the intruders and conducting suppressive fire to prevent anyone else from approaching the home,” according to the court record. That’s when Mireles was shot to death, along with the three surviving victims.

Later that month, the FBI alerted members of the Annapolis Police Department that the Mireles family and their associates were raising money to kill Smith, according to Smith’s attorneys, and that “the family had many connections to the Mexican Cartel.” and jail.” and prison system in Maryland and would use those connections to carry out the hit.”

The FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office acknowledged last year that they were investigating Mireles Ruiz for “possible involvement in drug distribution” and say the investigation is ongoing. Revealing additional information “may compromise an ongoing criminal investigation or reveal the identity of confidential sources,” they said.

In November, Anne Arundel Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey Michael Wachs ordered the FBI to provide information about people associated with the MS-13 gang or any affiliated criminal organization who were at the scene of the shooting. The order also required an FBI supervisory special agent and a special agent to testify at trial about the Mireles family and the alleged beating of Smith after the mass shooting.

Federal prosecutors maintain that state courts cannot compel them to produce the information.

“…Because the FBI enjoys immunity from the obligation to produce documents and appear in State Court, and has not waived that immunity, the State Court lacks jurisdiction to order the FBI to appear, and the Order of the November 25 should be vacated at this time as far as the FBI is concerned,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael J. Wilson and Vickie E. LeDuc wrote in court papers last month.

Columnist Rick Hutzell contributed to this article.