Man described as a ‘threat and danger’ to the community convicted in murder case

HARFORD COUNTY, MD – A 30-year-old Edgewood man was convicted after shooting 29-year-old William Doran in Joppatowne in December 2021.

Harford County Sheriff's officers were called to the 500 block of Dembytown Road in Joppatowne on Dec. 10, 2021, for a report of a car crash. While paramedics were resuscitating Doran, they discovered he had been shot below the eye. Although they were able to resuscitate him, Doran died an hour later, according to police.

During their investigation, Harford County Sheriff's Office detectives found aggressive text messages sent to Doran's phone. The message was from a person listed as “Reject P,” identified as Alton William Cumbo Jr., 28, of Edgewood. Police collected additional cell phone data that placed Cumbo in the area of ​​the murder at the time of the crime. He was taken into custody and charged with first-degree murder, first-degree murder, assault before committing a crime, and assault. Police said both men knew each other.

After a five-day trial, Cumbo was found guilty of premeditated murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a crime and illegal possession of a firearm.

Cumbo has since been sentenced to 75 years in prison, 20 of which must be served without the possibility of parole. In passing sentence, Judge Adkins-Tobin, considering the defendant's criminal history and the facts of this case, determined that Cumbo was not a candidate for rehabilitation because “nothing the court could do would deter him from further criminal conduct, and therefore a sentence had to be crafted that would protect the community from this individual who poses a threat and danger.”

During the same court hearing, the judge also sentenced Cumbo for violating probation stemming from convictions for second-degree assault and theft under $100 in 2014. For the probation violation, Cumbo received a sentence of seven years and six months, just one month less than the maximum sentence he could have received in that case. The sentence in the murder case and the sentence in the probation violation case must be served consecutively, for a total of 82 years and six months.

“I am incredibly proud of the great work of Assistant District Attorney Jason Allen in securing this maximum sentence today. As the court found, Alton Cumbo is not a candidate for rehabilitation, nor is he someone who will be deterred from future criminal acts. His criminal conduct tragically took the life of a citizen of Harford County, and that will simply not be tolerated. My office will continue to seek aggressive and above-guideline sentences for anyone who commits acts of violence in our community. Today, I hope the victim's family can find peace and feel that justice has been served, knowing that the person responsible for their terrible loss will likely spend the rest of their lives behind bars,” said District Attorney Alison Healey.