Details Emerge in Fatal Stabbing of Germantown Man

More details have emerged in the roommate dispute that ended with one man fatally stabbed in the back.

James E. Biddinger, 27, of Germantown, was charged with first-degree murder following the death of Kevin A. Mbayo, 22. Montgomery County Police Officers found Mbayo wounded at the townhouse the two men shared in the 13000 block of Country Ridge Drive late Tuesday, May 3. He later died at Suburban Hospital, police said.

The incident began as an argument between roommates and escalated into a fatal knife fight, according to police records filed in District Court.

Biddinger reportedly approached Mbayo on the couch of their living room to tell him that he couldn't live there because he was not on the lease, according to court records.

Police said this led to a knife fight.

Biddinger reportedly told police that Mbayo got ahold of a folding knife clipped on Biddinger's jeans and that once he regained control of the knife, he saw that Mbayo was bleeding heavily. At the sight of the injury, Biddinger reportedly drove off and tossed the knife in a grass median on Locbury Drive, according to court records.

Police were dispatched to investigate a stabbing at around 11:15 p.m., when they found Mbayo. About 15 minutes after police arrived, Montgomery County Emergency Communications Center received a call from Biddinger who said, according to court records, that he had stabbed his roommate.

Police said Biddinger was arrested without incident in front of Walmart off Frederick Road, and that he later showed them where the knife was discarded.

Biddinger was being held without bail at Montgomery County Detention Center in Rockville. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for June 3.