21-year-old pleads guilty to murder of man over missing dog, Montgomery County authorities say

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now) — A man is facing up to 60 years in prison for shooting and killing someone he believed caused his dog to go missing.

Lawrence Marshall IV, now 21, pleaded guilty in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County on Tuesday to the deadly shooting of 40-year-old Cederic Warner nearly two years ago.

Shortly before 10 p.m. on July 5, 2023, the Montgomery County Department of Police (MCPD) was dispatched to an apartment complex in Silver Spring, where they found Warner suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.

Warner’s girlfriend lived at the apartment with Warner and a dog, which belonged to her son, then-20-year-old Lawrence Marshall IV.

According to court documents, Marshall’s mother told police that the dog escaped the apartment in the overnight hours of July 4 after Warner let it out of its cage.

Despite searching for hours, she and Warner were not able to find the dog.

Later that day, on July 5, the two called Marshall to tell him that his dog was missing. He reportedly got upset and started threatening Warner over the phone.

He arrived at the apartment later that afternoon and continued to blame Marshall for losing the dog. At one point, he pulled out a gun and pointed it at his mother, Warner and another person who was in the apartment at the time of the shooting.

He threatened to kill Warner if he did not find the dog, court documents stated.

The four people — including Warner and Marshall — continued searching for the dog throughout the afternoon.

Later that evening, a witness said he was in the bathroom when he heard Marshall yelling at Warner while the two were in the living room. He then heard Warner say Marshall had a gun, followed by the sound of three gunshots.

Two of the witnesses gave Warner life-saving measures while a third person reported the incident to police.

Despite the efforts of the witnesses and first responders, Warner died at the scene.

Marshall pleaded guilty on June 24, 2025 — nearly two years after the incident — to second-degree murder and the use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence. He faces up to 60 years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 28.