Trial Starts Monday for Man Accused of Killing Roommate

The trial is scheduled to start Monday for a Germantown man accused of killing his roommate.

James E. Biddinger, 27, of Germantown, entered a plea of not guilty of killing Kevin A. Mbayo, 22, who succumbed at Suburban Hospital on May 3, 2011, from a stab wound to his back.

According to police, after Biddinger allegedly told Mbayo that he could no longer stay at their townhouse, in the 13000 block County Ridge Drive, because he wasn't on the lease.

In Biddinger's account of the fight, according to a police affidavit filed in Montgomery County District Court, it was Mbayo who allegedly went after a weapon, a folding knife clipped on Biddinger’s jeans, spurring the scuffle. Biddinger alleged that he didn't notice that Mbayo was bleeding heavily until after he regained control over his own knife, the court documents sate.

Biddinger allegedly drove off after seeing the injury. He was arrested without incident in front of Walmart at Milestone Center.

The trial is expected to last five days in Montgomery County Circuit Court, with Judge Robert A. Greenberg presiding. Assistant State's Attorneys Carol Crawford and Vlatka Tomazic are prosecuting the case. Biddinger is being represented by Jennifer B. Dayton and Melanie Creedon, who are from the public defender's office.