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By
Racquel Bazos [former]
- July 25, 2023
Court
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Daily Stories
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Homicides
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Shooting
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Suspects
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Victims
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On July 24, defense attorney Brian McDaniel’s opening statement before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Gregory Sampson suggested that victim Juliah Fruh was trying to rob the defendant, Chase Marco Wilson, in a drug deal gone wrong.
Wilson, 21, now faces charges of first-degree murder, firearm use in a felony violent crime, and having a handgun on his person in connection to the Aug. 31, 2022, killing of the 19-year-old Morgan State security guard on the 4400 block of Marble Hall Road.
During his opening statement, McDaniel emphasized that the jurors should look at the context of the shooting and pointed to the differences in the victim’s text messages to both his friend, who was a witness to the shooting, and the defendant, proposing the robbery theory. McDaniel said that surveillance footage and cell phone records will prove that “Chase Wilson is not a cold-blooded killer.”
The defense asked jurors to find Wilson not guilty on all charges, excluding having a handgun on his person.
According to the text messages exchanged between the victim and defendant, the two had already met once in the morning on the day of the incident when Wilson allegedly sold Fruh marijuana. The incident itself occurred at 9:00 p.m. that night when Fruh and his friend met with Wilson again to purchase a quarter-pound of marijuana.
McDaniel claimed that Fruh punched Wilson in the face and attempted to grab his bag. During the struggle, Wilson took out his gun and opened fire on him. Fruh died at a nearby hospital of his injuries.
Testimony began after opening statements. The trial is expected to last three more days.