Suspect Claims Self-Defense in Gas Station Homicide

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Baltimorean Brandon Fullard testified on Sept. 18 that he “absolutely” acted in self-defense when he fatally shot 31-year-old Brian Richardson during a confrontation outside a Carroll Motor Fuels gas station last November.

Fullard, 34, is charged with second-degree murder, firearm use in a felony violent crime, and multiple handgun violations in connection with the Nov. 12, 2023, shooting on the 3300 block of Garrison Boulevard.

Taking the stand in his own defense, Fullard described himself as a longtime warehouse worker and delivery driver who lives with and cares for his mother and grandmother. He told jurors that on the day of the incident, he was delivering DoorDash orders when Richardson’s girlfriend aggressively cut him off in a BMW triggering bad memories.

Fullard explained that he had been seriously injured in a near-fatal car crash in 2022, leaving him hospitalized for a month and in a wheelchair for five months. The memory of that crash, he noted, made him especially fearful.

After being pushed into oncoming traffic, he followed her to the gas station to obtain her vehicle’s license tag number to report her. That’s where, Fullard claimed, Richardson exited the BMW holding a handgun.

“He basically threatened my life,” Fullard testified. “He said he was going to shoot the shit out of me.”

Fullard said he never got out of his Toyota Camry and had no way to retreat.

“I don’t remember killing,” he told the prosecution under cross-examination. “I remember defending myself.”

Earlier in the trial, a Baltimore Police Department (BPD) detective testified that license plate reader data, surveillance footage from Towson Hot Bagels, and DoorDash GPS records placed Fullard near the scene. A search of his girlfriend’s home uncovered clothing matching what was seen in the surveillance video, along with a .45-caliber handgun, magazines, and a Social Security card.

Although there is no evidence that Richardson had a gun, the detective admitted under questioning that there was a window of time between the shooting and Richardson’s arrival at the hospital in which the victim’s gun “could have been chucked,” leaving open the possibility that evidence may have been lost.

Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge John Addison Howard is presiding over the trial, which is expected to continue this week with closing arguments.