Attempted second-degree murder and abduction charges certified against Rideout

By Linda Cicoira

Probable cause was found Monday in Accomack General District Court to certify charges to a grand jury of attempted second-degree murder and abduction against a man who appears to have had addresses in both New Church and Cambridge, Md.

Thirty-four-year-old Rymarr Tyquan Rideout was accused of the Aug. 15 crimes that involved his girlfriend, 49-year-old Cherylyn Stevens, of Hillcrest Drive. A charge of robbery failed to be certified for lack of evidence and a felony drug offense was not prosecuted. Rideout was ushered from Accomack Jail for the proceeding wearing a white jail jumpsuit.

The victim refused to testify against Rideout. But her daughter, Briana Nelson, who was nearly ready to deliver her second child when the incident occurred, told the court she left the home with her six-year-old in tow that day. Nelson had awakened to the two arguing voices. At one point, she hid her child in a closet for fear of what might happen.

When she went into the hallway to see what was going on, she said she saw Rideout take three knives from a drawer before forcing Stevens into the couple’s bedroom. Nelson and her child went outside. The daughter said she frantically called police while still listening to her mother’s screams.

“When I saw him grab the knives, I kept telling him to stop,” said Nelson. Her mother “was trying to go outside to let it die down … she was trying to go out the door to the backyard,” Nelson said.

Eventually Stevens got free and jumped out the bedroom window, breaking her knee in the process. Rideout cut Stevens on her hand with one of the knives, the daughter said.

Defense lawyer Carl Bundick argued there was no evidence of robbery and no eyewitness to what occurred in the bedroom. Bundick said the incident “never rose to attempted murder.”

When Deputy Julian Sharp arrived at the scene, the victim was already outside. The officer managed to coax Rideout from the home and he was arrested.

Texts between the mother and daughter occurred during the incident and were entered into evidence. Bundick objected. He said they were brought up “to fill a void of the mother’s unwillingness to testify.”

Commonwealth’s Attorney Spencer Morgan disagree. He contended Nelson offered “a fair and accurate depiction” of what occurred. Judge Gordon Vincent said the two lawyers could argue the case in circuit court.

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