Germantown Man's Murder Charge Sticks in Court

A judge on Friday found there was probable cause to charge a Germantown man with first-degree murder for his roommate’s death, despite a claim that he was trying to defend himself during a knife fight.

James E. Biddinger, 27, of Germantown, was charged with killing Kevin A. Mbayo, 22, during dispute that began after Biddinger told Mbayo he could no longer live at their townhouse, in the 13000 block County Ridge Drive. According to police, the late-night argument escalated into a fatal knife fight May 3. Mbayo died at Suburban Hospital from a stab wound to his back.

District Court Judge William G. Simmons made the ruling Friday despite
the defense’s argument that there wasn’t enough evidence for first-degree murder, which carries a mandatory life sentence under Maryland law.

“It wasn’t murder. It was self-defense,” said Melanie Creedon, an attorney representing Biddinger, after the hearing. Creedon declined to comment further on the case.

After the ruling, all Assistant State's Attorney Carol Crawford would say regarding the specifics of this case was: “We respect the judge's decision.”

In court, Sgt. John Sheridan, from Montgomery County Police Department’s Major Crimes Division, testified that Montgomery County Police were dispatched to the townhouse at around 11:15 p.m., when officers found Mbayo wounded. About 15 minutes after police arrived, Montgomery County Emergency Communications Center received a call from Biddinger who said, according to Sheridan’s testimony Friday, that “he had been attacked by his roommate.”

According to Sheridan’s testimony, Biddinger told police that Mbayo had obtained a knife and cut Biddinger’s left ring finger during the scuffle. Police later recovered a kitchen knife that another tenant of the townhouse discovered behind a box of cereal, Sheridan said in court Friday.

Biddinger reportedly told police that Mbayo got a hold 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, according to police records filed in District Court. At the sight of the injury, Biddinger reportedly drove off with his girlfriend and another woman and tossed the knife in a grass median on Locbury Drive, according Sheridan’s testimony.

Police said Biddinger was arrested without incident in front of Walmart at Milestone Center, and that he later showed police where the knife was discarded, according to court records.