HOME INVASION: Tavein Malik Dickens shot dead by resident when invading home

CALIFORNIA, MD – The last thing Tavein Malik Dickens saw was the end of the barrel of a gun. When he forced entry into a home just before midnight on August 27, 2021, after banging on doors and windows, St. Mary’s Sheriff Tim Cameron reports that Dickens was confronted by an armed resident who provided Dickens with the only response appropriate for a home invader – a fatal dose of lead poisoning.

The criminal career for the young resident of Lexington Estates, located just south of Lexington Park in the Hermanville area is over.

Initial emergency broadcasts to responding EMS units was that Dickens “was shot in the left of the chest and the arm and possibly the shoulder”.

Multiple police units responded to the 911 call at about 11:20 pm.

Sheriff Cameron reported that deputies from the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Department responded to a residence just off of Rt. 4 in California, Md., at the intersection of Woodland Acres Road at Potter Drive, for the reported burglary with an individual shot.

Deputies arrived on the scene and located an individual, later identified as Tavein Malik Dickens, 23, of Lexington Park, suffering from a gunshot wound.

Lifesaving measures were attempted at the scene and Dickens was transported to an area trauma center where he was later pronounced deceased.

Police determined that Dickens allegedly forced entry to the residence through the front door after repeatedly banging on other exterior doors and windows around the residence.

 As Dickens entered the residence, he was confronted by the homeowner at which time a struggle ensued.  During the struggle, the homeowner discharged a firearm, striking Dickens in the upper body.