16-year-old charged as 4th suspect in fatal shooting of 5-year-old girl in Dorchester County

A 16-year-old has been arrested in connection with last month's homicide of a 5-year-old girl in Dorchester County, Maryland, becoming the fourth person charged in the killing.

The teenager has been charged with first-degree murder and other related offenses. He is being held at the Dorchester County Detention Center.

Maryland State Police previously arrested three others in connection with the death of 5-year-old Na'Ryah Adams. Her father, 30-year-old Ryan Adams, was also critically wounded in the shooting.

Anthony D. Harris, 26, of Hurlock, and Wendell A. Wongus III, 23, of Hurlock, are charged with first-degree murder and other related offenses. Lindsay Jo Ewing, 42, of Cambridge, is charged with accessory after the fact to first-degree murder and other related offenses.

Adams and his 15-year-old nephew were also charged with attempted first-degree murder in connection with a separate, nonfatal shooting involving a 14-year-old in Hurlock that occurred hours earlier.

Maryland State Police responded around 2:30 a.m. Aug. 11 to a reported shooting at a home in the 3900 block of Ocean Gateway in Linkwood. Na'Ryah was pronounced dead at the scene, and her father suffered gunshot wounds.

Troopers linked the two shootings, saying Adams shot a 14-year-old hours earlier after receiving a call from his nephew following an altercation at a home on Gold Rush Lane in Hurlock.

Investigators allege Ewing used information obtained through her employment at a defense attorney's office that was not available to the general public to help Harris evade detection by law enforcement following the homicide.

"The Dorchester County State's Attorney determined that her office had a conflict and contacted me to request Wicomico County's assistance in these matters. Violent crime in Dorchester County affects the entire Lower Eastern Shore and, most importantly, can tragically alter the lives of victims, families, and communities for generations," Wicomico County State's Attorney Jamie Dykes said last month.

"My Office will do everything lawfully and ethically within our authority to ensure that these cases are handled fairly, thoroughly, and with the seriousness they deserve. Our responsibility is to follow the facts, apply the law, and pursue justice while protecting the integrity of the process."

Last month, Na'Ryah's family spoke to WBOC, the CBS affiliate in Salisbury, about the child's death.

"She just was a loving person, and she loved her brothers and sisters, even though she might've nagged them a little bit," the child's grandmother, Jolynn Adams, said.

"She was a sweet, innocent little girl. Funny, playful. She did not deserve it," another family member said. "And I want justice for my uncle, too."