Man Who Confessed to Roommate’s Murder Pleads Guilty

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A 25-year-old Baltimore man is expected to be sentenced in August for his roommate’s murder after accepting a plea agreement from the prosecution on May 14.

Markis Russell was initially charged with first-degree murder for killing 22-year-old Jeffery Brooks Jr. inside their apartment on the 3100 block of Mary Avenue on March 23, 2023. However, the defendant pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on Tuesday in addition to firearm use in a crime of violence before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge John A. Howard.

His sentencing is currently scheduled for Aug. 6.

Charging documents state that Brooks’ father informed Baltimore Police that his son was missing on March 23, 2023. When police brought Russell in for questioning the next day, the defendant told police Brooks ran at him with a knife during a fight the two men were having about money. Russell then shot Brooks in the head, put his body in a 2009 Subaru Outback and parked the car behind Carroll Motor Fuels on the 6800 block of Harford Road.