18-Year-Old Defendant Awaits Verdict in the Murder of Mergenthaler High School Student

By Eleni Christou [former] - September 25, 2023
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Juveniles | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

On Sept. 25, Nizah Daniels appeared before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Dana M. Middleton to hear closing arguments in the murder of a Mergenthaler High School Student.

Daniels, 18, is charged with the first-degree murder of 17-year-old Jeremiah Brogden, firearm use in a felony violent crime, illegal possession of a regulated firearm, possession of a firearm as a minor and carrying a handgun on his person. 

The primary evidence brought forth by the prosecution included texts from Daniels’ phone recovered at one of the crime scenes, a firearm recovered at the second crime scene, as well as eyewitness and expert witness testimony and surveillance footage. 

A big portion of the case was built upon an alleged text exchange between Daniels and a friend. Following the shooting, the prosecution explained that Daniels sent a text at 2:58 p.m. stating, “Call my mother, I’ve been caught.” 

Daniels’ defense attorney, Roland Harris, offered a different perspective trying to poke holes in the prosecution’s argument. He began by emphasizing that it would not have been possible for Daniels to send that message at 2:58 p.m. because his cellphone was recovered at a school parking lot, but according to the prosecution’s timeline, he would have had to send the message from the alley where he disposed of the murder weapon. 

Additionally, witnesses claimed the suspect was wearing black pants and a black hoodie. Another witness said she saw the suspect’s hand in his hoodie pocket. Harris noted that the pants Daniels was wearing were green, not black, and that his hoodie did not have a pocket. 

Moreover, Harris argued there were flaws in the forensic analysis of physical evidence including DNA, fingerprints and mapping of the case timeline. Additionally, he noted an absence of motive on behalf of the defendant, as there was seemingly no connection between Daniels and Brogden. 

According to documents from the District Court of Maryland, on Sept. 2, 2022, Daniels walked to Mergenthaler Vocational Technical High School on the 3500 block of Hillen Road at the time of the school’s dismissal. 

Witness testimony and surveillance footage showed Brogden and Daniels engaging with one another, although the substance of the conversation is not known. Soon after, footage allegedly showed the defendant shooting Brogden three times: once in the chest, shoulder and head. The suspect fled the scene, stopping in an alley in order to toss the weapon.