On May 2, 2015 at approximately 1642 hours members of the
Calvert County Sheriff’s Office patrol Bureau responded to 8296 Sycamore Road,
Lusby, Maryland 20657 for a report of an unconscious male.
Upon arrival units discovered a male, later identified as Levi Buck, 48
year old male. It became apparent that
Buck was suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. CPR was performed; however after another
assessment it was determined that Buck’s injuries were incompatible with life
and he was pronounced dead on the scene.
Due to the nature of the crime Calvert Investigations Bureau
(CIB) assumed the investigation into the death of Levi Buck. During the investigation numerous witnesses
were interviewed and were cooperating with the investigation. Shortly after assuming the investigation CIB
detectives developed a person of interest in the case. Robert Scott Slaughter, 43 years old of
Mechanicsville, Maryland, was sought for questioning by the detectives. A multi-jurisdictional broadcast was
conducted containing description of Slaughter and his vehicle, a 2006 red Ford
Mustang GT. Officers from Calvert County
Sheriff’s Office, St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office, Charles County Sheriff’s
Office and Maryland State Police were attempting to locate Slaughter on the
roadways, as well as at various places Slaughter was known to frequent. The Calvert County State’s Attorney’s Office
assigned ASA A. Rappaport to the case in effort to provide support to detectives
during the investigation.
The Calvert County Sheriff’s Office CIB deployed numerous
detectives throughout the Southern Maryland region in an attempt to apprehend
Slaughter, as he was considered armed and dangerous following the shooting on
Sycamore Road.
On 5/2/2015 at approximately 2049 hours Det. M. Mudd, of the
Criminal Investigations Bureau, made contact with Slaughter via telephone and
spoke with Slaughter for approximately five minutes. Slaughter indicated to Det. M. Mudd that he
was in Huntingtown and was coming to the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office in
order to speak with detectives regarding the incident on Sycamore Road. Slaughter never came to the Sheriff’s
Officer and that was the last conversation Slaughter had with anyone known to
investigators. Prior to speaking with
Det. M. Mudd on the phone, Slaughter had a brief conversation with his wife and
exchanged a limited number of text messages throughout the evening. Based on the contents of Slaughter’s messages
it was believed that he may have been considering suicide.
Units from the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office, St. Mary’s
County Sheriff’s Office and Charles
County Sheriff’s Office continued to
follow-up leads, canvass southern Maryland roadways and neighborhoods and work with
cell phone providers in order to locate Slaughter. The efforts continued from the time of the
call until 5/3/2015 at approximately 0530 hours; however, Slaughter was not
located.
On 5/3/2015 at 1130 hours CIB Detectives were deployed to
the White Sands neighborhood and canvassed the area in search of additional
witnesses to the shooting. Additional
interviews, with witnesses who were already identified, were also conducted by
detectives. The search for Slaughter
resumed and continued until the evening hours on Sunday 5/3/2015.
On 5/4/2015 at approximately 0700 hours an officer with the
St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office observed Slaughter’s vehicle in the rear
parking lot of Mount Zion Church, Mechanicsville, Maryland. Slaughter was observed in the front seat and
was not moving. With assistance from the
St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Services Team the vehicle was
secured and entry was gained.
Detectives from CIB responded to the scene and assisted the
St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office with scene processing. Robert Scott Slaughter was found in the
driver’s seat suffering from a single gunshot wound to the head. Slaughter was pronounced dead on the scene. Investigation revealed that Slaughter’s
injury was self-inflicted. A small caliber
rifle was located in Slaughters right hand.
Slaughter appeared to be deceased for some time, although the exact time
of death is pending an autopsy by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, in
Baltimore.
Based on the information learned during the investigation,
facts of the case, electronic data and witness statements Slaughter shot and
killed Levi Buck on 5/2/2015. Slaughter
fled the scene and subsequently took his own life sometime on the evening of 5/2/2015
or the early morning hours on 5/3/2015.
