A Middle River man pleaded guilty Wednesday to first-degree murder and use of a firearm in a felony crime of violence in the August 2022 shooting death of a Glen Burnie homeowner during a home invasion, according to the Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Andre Raquan Riggs, 28, entered the plea in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court in the killing of 27-year-old Matthew Ponder. The Honorable Judge Robert Thompson scheduled sentencing for November 19, 2026. Under Maryland law, first-degree murder carries a sentence of life imprisonment, with or without the possibility of parole, while the firearm charge carries an additional mandatory minimum sentence.
State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess said in a statement that the case was “a terrifying home invasion that ultimately resulted in the tragic death of Mr. Ponder,” adding that “digital evidence played a critical role in identifying this defendant, who came to the home armed with a gun for the purpose of stealing valuables in the middle of the night.”
Police and paramedics responded to a home in the 400 block of M Street Northeast in Glen Burnie around 2:24 a.m. on August 31, 2022, after a reported shooting. Officers found Ponder suffering from gunshot wounds inside the residence; he was pronounced dead at the scene. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore ruled his death a homicide.
Investigators identified two potential suspects through surveillance video, which showed them approaching the home, later covering a rear camera with a plastic bag, and fleeing in a vehicle parked on a nearby street. Inside the home, Ponder and a female victim were robbed of several items, including collectible currency, according to police.
Prosecutors said digital evidence placed Riggs near the home at the time of the shooting and showed he had searched online for Ponder’s address before the killing and for the value of a 1950 ten-dollar bill afterward — matching currency reported stolen from the home. Members of the Anne Arundel County Police Fugitive Apprehension Team arrested Riggs in Baltimore County in November 2023, more than a year after the killing.
Assistant State’s Attorney Kelly M. Poma represented the state in the case. Detective Juan Honesto and the Anne Arundel County Police Homicide Unit led the investigation. The case comes one day after a separate Anne Arundel County prosecution handled by Leitess’s office, in a Curtis Bay overdose death, also resulted in a guilty plea.
