On the morning of September 27, 2018, 18-year-old Danielle Valerie Gunson of Owings, Maryland, was fatally shot after travelling with two men. According to investigators, the group stopped near Saint Stephens Church Road and Johns Hopkins Road in Crownsville, where Liam Cameron Penn allegedly opened fire, wounding Gunson and Terence John Caruso Jr. Caruso was later found wounded on Johns Hopkins Road in Gambrills and survived; Gunson was reported missing that evening and her body was found the next morning in a wooded area in the 100 block of Riverside Road in Baltimore. An autopsy determined she died of multiple gunshot wounds.

Anne Arundel County and Baltimore City homicide units linked Gunson’s murder to the attempted killing of Caruso. Detectives say witness statements plus forensic and digital evidence identified Liam Penn as the primary suspect, and one witness reportedly said Penn confessed. An arrest warrant for Penn was issued October 29, 2018, and he was taken into custody the following day and charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and several firearm offenses.