POTOMAC, MD – A 22-year-old employee at a Maryland assisted-living facility has been charged with murder in connection with the fatal shooting of an 87-year-old millionaire resident on Valentine’s Day, according to Montgomery County police.
Maurquise Emillo James of Baltimore, who worked at the Cogir Potomac Senior Living facility, was arrested Tuesday following the death of Robert Fuller Jr., authorities announced Wednesday. Fuller was found unresponsive in his apartment on the morning of February 14 after staff reported a medical emergency.
Police discovered evidence consistent with a contact gunshot wound to Fuller’s head but found no weapon at the scene, Montgomery County Police said. Fuller was pronounced dead at the facility.
Surveillance footage from the assisted-living facility showed a masked individual entering through a side door and later fleeing on foot down the sidewalk, according to police. Additional video released by investigators showed a person with long black hair wearing a flannel shirt and dark pants walking in the facility’s courtyard area.
The publicly released video generated tips that helped identify James as the suspect, police said. Montgomery County Police Captain Sean Gagen revealed at a press conference that the suspect’s long hair was actually a wig. “At the time, we had no idea that that was a wig,” Gagen told WTOP News. “Some people thought that could have been a part of a disguise.”
James faces additional charges of attempted murder in connection with a separate incident involving a Maryland State Police trooper, according to authorities. On Tuesday morning, a trooper stopped a silver 2009 Infiniti G37 without license plates when the driver allegedly fired two shots at close range before fleeing the scene. The trooper was not seriously injured, police said.
Investigators believe the same weapon was used in both the Fuller shooting and the incident with the state trooper, Montgomery County police stated. Police have not disclosed a motive for Fuller’s killing.
Fuller was described as a former lawyer and philanthropist who donated millions of dollars to community projects, according to NBC 4 Washington. The millionaire spent much of his life in Augusta, Maine, where he funded construction of a new YMCA, hospital improvements, and high school expansions, Maine State Representative Bill Bridgeo told the outlet.
Martha Everatt-Stpierre, who founded the Sister in Arms Center with Fuller’s financial support, told WMTW that Fuller was instrumental in establishing the nonprofit transitional housing facility for veteran women. “He was the first person with money that really took me seriously,” she said.
Information about James’s legal representation was not immediately available. The Cogir Potomac Senior Living facility has not responded to requests for comment.
