Victim Showed ‘Classic Bully Behavior’ Prior to Provoking Defendant Into Fatal Fight at Royal Farms

By Andrew Michaels - June 3, 2023
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Suspects | Victims |

The fight between homicide defendant Jason Alcindor and victim Timothy Campbell was “a fight or flight” scenario, defense attorney Matthew Connell said before a jury during his closing argument on May 31. The 44-year-old victim provoked the 38-year-old defendant into a fight and Alcindor fought back.

Alcindor’s murder trial came to a close on Wednesday before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Jeannie Hong for charges of first and second-degree murder and manslaughter. The jury found Alcindor guilty of voluntary manslaughter but not guilty of first-degree murder on June 1. 

Despite cell phone footage capturing the brawl between Alcindor and Campbell in the Royal Farms gas station parking lot on the 2700 block of Washington Boulevard, Connell argued that if someone is provoked into a fight resulting in the provoker’s death, the law mitigates murder to manslaughter.

Connell likened the June 5, 2017, incident to another fight that occurred between Warriors basketball players Draymond Green and Jordan Poole prior to the start of the 2022-2023 NBA season. The fight between the teammates became heated and ended with Green punching Poole in the face.

Both of these fights were provoked, Connell said.

The defense attorney also commented on Campbell’s history of “classic bully behavior,” which the victim allegedly exhibited when trying to provoke a fight with Alcindor at a Christmas party the previous year.

“Start,” the prosecutor said in his rebuttal, standing silently before the jury for 97 seconds—the same amount of time as the fight between Alcindor and Campbell. Defense counsel’s mentioning of the fight between the basketball players was used as a distraction, he added, saying it would only have been relevant if Green stabbed Poole 26 times.

“That is murder,” the prosecutor said earlier in his closing argument. “That doesn’t even take into account all of the times that [the defendant] missed.”

The assistant state’s attorney continuously referenced the video recording of the fight during his argument, explaining how Alcindor continued to stab Campbell even after the latter got into a vehicle to escape.

“He used way more force than was reasonably necessary,” the prosecutor said. “…Hold him accountable for stabbing [the victim] to death and taking him from this earth.”