A man who worked at a Potomac senior living facility where an elderly man was found dead of a gunshot wound is now charged with his murder.
The Montgomery County Police Department alleges that Maurquise Emillo James, 22, of Baltimore is responsible for the death of Robert Fuller Jr., 87. Fuller was found dead from a gunshot wound to the head at the Cogir of Potomac senior living facility on Feb. 14.
Police said a review of surveillance footage from Feb. 14 found a masked person walking to a side door, entering it to go up a stairwell, and then fleeing out the side door and down the sidewalk a short time later. An alarm, detectives determined, did not go off because the door was propped open.
The review also found footage of Mr. James, an employee at Cogir of Potomac at the time of Fuller’s death, in the stairwell in January on another day where the alarm was deactivated.
The police released other footage of the suspect, which they believe to be Mr. James, walking in a courtyard wearing a plaid jacket; this in turn solicited tips that implicated Mr. James, police said.
Mr. James is also accused of a separate crime on the day of his arrest. On Tuesday, a Maryland State Police trooper tried pulling over a silver sedan that did not have tags, before the driver opened fire.
The trooper was not seriously hurt, Montgomery County police said, but further investigation determined the same gun was used in both that shooting and in Mr. Fuller’s murder.
County police officers arrested Mr. James later on Tuesday in Rockville after he attempted to flee. Mr. James, who is charged with first-degree murder, is now being held at the Montgomery County Detention Center in Rockville.
In addition, county and state police executed search warrants at locations in Baltimore County that turned up unspecified items of “potential evidentiary value,” county police said.
Once the court proceedings are finished in Montgomery County, Baltimore City officials are expected to charge Mr. James in the shooting of the state trooper, according to Montgomery Community Media.
If Mr. James is found guilty of first-degree murder, State’s Attorney for Montgomery County John McCarthy said that he could face up to a life sentence in prison, according to Montgomery Community Media.
