Harford County July 4th party that turned deadly violated county code

A Fourth of July party in Harford County that ended with a man dead and another injured violated county code, according to county officials.

The code states that "any event held on private property that is open to the public is required to obtain a Temporary Event Permit."

The Harford County executive's office told CBS News Baltimore that no permit was applied for or issued for this event.

Deputies responded to a home on Willow Vale Drive in Fallston, Maryland, shortly after midnight Sunday for reports of a shooting.

Joseph Evans, 34, from Owings Mills, was found in the garage with multiple gunshot wounds. He is expected to recover. Another victim, 23-year-old Jordan Jennings, was taken by a private vehicle to a hospital, where he died.

The party and the homeowner

The homeowner's adult son sold tickets to the party online, and more than 100 people attended, according to the Harford County Sheriff's Office.

"I think a lot of them did know each other, but the interesting part of it is everybody that we've identified who was at that party, and there were about 100 people there, none of them were from Harford County," said Col. William Davis, with the Harford County Sheriff's Office.

According to the Maryland Department of Taxation and Assessments, the $1.3 million home is owned by Sharonda Ellerby, the owner of Ellerby Tax Advisory Group.

WJZ interviewed Ellerby in 2019, as she spoke in favor of legislation that would prohibit landlords from discriminating against where tenants got their rent money, including Section 8 funding.

"It took me about three to four months to find a place," Ellerby said at the time. "Every place that I called and said that I had Section 8, I would try to convince them that it's good money, it's steady money (but) no, no Section 8."

CBS News Baltimore tried to reach Ellerby for comment on her now-deleted Facebook page, by phone, and by ringing her doorbell with no luck.

We also reached out to the Willow Vale Farm HOA, but they also did not return our calls.

Investigation ongoing for Fallston July 4th shooting

The Harford County Sheriff's Office is still working to figure out who fired the shots and why.

"We're still working through all that with the shell casings and video and interviews and all that so we're still not 100% sure how all that went down but we hope to have some answers pretty soon," Col. Davis said.

At this point, no charges have been filed against a suspect, homeowner, or anyone else at the party.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Harford County Sheriff's office at 443-567-7201.