25-year-old charged with murder of Maryland security guard

Anyone in Baltimore who has been to a popular nightclub has probably seen at least one — the muscular security guards who stand ready to break up any drunken bar fights. They might be body builders, or off-duty police officers or simply the high school gym teacher moonlighting for extra cash.

When a bar fight breaks out, the security guard is supposed to stop it, with force if necessary. Recently a bar fight got out of control and a Maryland security guard died from stab wounds. A 25-year-old man has been charged with first-degree murder and a gun charge as a result.

The incident took place at Tee Bee’s Bar in Parkville. The police state that a fight broke out between two women and the security guard attempted to break it up. The police claim that at some point the 25-year-old joined in the brawl that included “several” people and that the security guard died of stab wounds sustained as he was trying to break up the fight.

There is a great deal that was not reported that could be questioned in this case. If there were several people involved in the fight, why was the 25-year-old accused of stabbing the guard? Was it possible that he grabbed the knife from someone else? Could he have been using the knife to try to stop the fight and the stabbing was accidental? Did someone lie about the 25-year-old’s involvement in order to throw suspicion away from him or herself? Did the 25-year-old know one of the two women and was acting to protect her?

When there are many people involved in an incident such as this, witness testimony may be in conflict. The 25-year-old is innocent until proven guilty beyond any reasonable doubt. Conflicting testimony could provide that doubt.

Source: The Washington Post, “Murder charge for man in Md. security guard’s stabbing death,” Sept. 10, 2012

At our Baltimore criminal defense law office we represent individuals charged with felonies including first-degree murder by stabbing or other criminal charges.