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By
Racquel Bazos [former]
- October 2, 2023
Court
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Daily Stories
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Homicides
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stabbing
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Suspects
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Victims
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On Oct. 2, a homicide defendant tried to fire his public defender in a reception court hearing before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa M. Phinn.
Elijah Nicholas is charged with first-degree murder and possession of a deadly weapon with intent to injure in connection to the April 10 stabbing death of 44-year-old Damiane Edwards.
The prosecutor offered Nicholas, 22, a sentence of life, suspending all but 50 years, with five years of supervised probation for the first-degree murder charge. He rejected the offer.
Nicholas was represented by Romel Showell, standing in for Nicholas’ assigned public defender, Maureen O’Leary. Nicholas told Judge Phinn he has only seen O’Leary twice in seven months of incarceration and hasn’t viewed the electronic evidence against him. Phinn told Nicholas that Showell is O’Leary’s supervisor and will relay his concerns to her when she gets out of trial.
Judge Phinn continued the hearing to Oct. 30 for scheduling Nicholas’ trial.
Per previous reporting, District Court of Maryland documents indicate that the dispute between Edwards and Nicholas was about a rent payment for the property they lived in on the 1000 block of Dartmouth Road.