Baltimore County Courtroom Observer

06/17/2026

A father accused of causing injuries to his newborn baby, including rib fractures, pleaded guilty Wednesday to misdemeanor assault in Baltimore County Circuit Court and was sentenced to one year in prison.

Mark Wayne Necker Jr., 29, of Perry Hall, was indicted in February on felony first-degree child abuse and eight other related offenses.

Necker pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and a gun charge from a separate but related case. The remaining charges are not being prosecuted as part of the plea agreement.

Judge Jan Alexander sentenced Necker to 10 years in prison and suspended all but one year of the sentence. He ordered Necker to attend an inpatient drug treatment program and take parenting classes. Necker will be on supervised probation for five years after his release. The suspended sentence means Necker could serve the remainder of his sentence in prison if he violates his probation or the terms of his release.

According to charging documents, on Nov. 4, 2025, staff at WellSpan York Hospital in York, Pa., contacted Baltimore County Child Protective Services to report they were treating an infant for hemorrhages in both eyes, a rib fracture, and bruising on the baby's face, ear, and tongue. The baby was about six weeks old.

Necker told investigators the tongue bruising may have been caused by a suction device used to remove mucus from the baby's nose and mouth. He said that the eye hemorrhages had been present for the previous five days and that he and the baby's mother were the only two people who cared for the child.

A follow-up examination revealed that the child had 13 rib fractures in various stages of healing, according to court records.

A doctor from Penn State Health Children's Hospital reported that "based on the visible stages of healing, it is clear that the minor victim suffered at least three distinct instances of abusive trauma."

The baby's mother told investigators that the newborn was sometimes gassy and fussy but that she had never been rough with him. She also said Necker sometimes used the "bicycle method" to help the baby expel gas and that "sometimes he is too rough," according to court records. In court Wednesday, she said an older child in the home might have caused some of the injuries. That child, she said, was jealous of the newborn and often jumped on the baby.

Necker told investigators he likely caused some of the injuries while performing the Heimlich maneuver on the baby three days earlier.

Medical records showed the child was severely vitamin D deficient, defense attorney Richard Scott said, which could have been a factor in some of the injuries.

According to charging documents, Necker was on house arrest for an unrelated case and was wearing an ankle monitor during the period authorities believe the injuries occurred.

Necker was under investigation but had not been charged with child abuse when he was arrested Dec. 3, 2025, on a gun charge. His mother had called police, saying her son was suicidal and had a gun, according to court records.

Necker's attorney said his client was distraught about being suspected of causing the baby's injuries.

After his arrest, police seized Necker's phone. Charging documents say an extraction of the phone turned up a text Necker allegedly sent to his mother expressing frustration about the baby's frequent crying and fussing. Police quoted part of the text message as saying, "I want to throw (the minor victim) out the window."

Scott told the judge the entire family supports Necker and does not believe he intentionally abused the baby.

Necker accepted responsibility for the injuries, saying he had been irresponsible.

"I love my children and their mother more than anything on the earth," he said. "I just want to be the best father and the best husband, eventually, that I can be."

He told Alexander he looks forward to drug treatment to help him with an addiction he has been battling for many years.

"I am very ashamed and embarrassed of my actions and the circumstances that led me to be before you today, and God bless you," Necker told the judge.

06/16/2026

A Baltimore County judge on Tuesday found a FedEx driver not guilty of vehicular manslaughter charges related to an April 15, 2025, fatal Beltway crash near Dundalk.

Delivery driver Marcus Shackelford, 30, was driving a FedEx box truck with a “pancake-flat” tire around 11 p.m. on the inner loop of I-695 when a 2024 Toyota RAV4 slammed into the back of the truck near the North Point Boulevard exit, according to Maryland State Police.

The truck was described in court as “limping along” in the slow lane at five miles per hour with its hazard lights on just before impact.

A short time before the crash, a highway safety worker had escorted the truck to a safe place on the shoulder so the driver could call someone to fix the tire. But the driver eventually returned to the road with the tire still flat.

Christine Lesniewski, 39, of Sparrows Point, was driving behind the FedEx truck and apparently did not see the slow-moving vehicle in time.

Her SUV was traveling at “highway speed” — around 55 miles per hour — when it crashed into the box truck, rupturing the delivery vehicle’s fuel tank and igniting a fire, according to police.

Lesniewski was pronounced dead at the scene. Shackelford was not injured.

Shackelford was charged with grossly negligent vehicular manslaughter and other related offenses.

“This is a terrible outcome,” defense attorney Leonard Shapiro said of the fatality. “But every bad outcome ain’t a crime.”

Shapiro said Lesniewski hit the highly visible FedEx truck on a straight portion of the road and pointed out that every other vehicle on the road that night saw the truck and avoided it.

Judge Evelyn Cusson heard testimony in the case Monday and delivered her verdict Tuesday morning. She found Shackelford not guilty of the most serious manslaughter charges but guilty of several misdemeanors related to the crash, including willfully driving slowly to impede traffic, driving without safe tires, and reckless driving. She fined him $500 and sentenced him to time served. He also will be on one year of unsupervised probation.

On the night of the crash, police said, Shackelford had finished his deliveries for the day, logged off work, and was headed from Parkville back to a FedEx terminal in Sparrows Point when the front left tire went flat.

He pulled over on the left shoulder of I-695 before the Chesaco Avenue exit in the Rosedale area to check the damage. Shackelford then continued driving, straddling the shoulder and the fast lane, according to police.

Video played in court showed cars braking, moving to the right, and changing lanes to avoid the slow-moving truck.

An employee with the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration who was patrolling the area spotted the disabled truck. William Thomas testified that he blocked oncoming traffic to allow Shackelford to move the FedEx truck to the right shoulder.

Thomas, a member of the MDTSHA's Coordinated Highways Action Response Team (CHART), testified that he helped the truck get to a large shoulder in a well-lit area and told Shackelford to call his supervisor to have someone come change the tire.

Shapiro pointed out that Thomas did not specifically tell Shackelford not to drive the truck.

Thomas left and, a few minutes later, heard radio dispatchers sending first responders to a traffic collision not far from where he had just left the FedEx truck.
Officers' body cameras captured Shackelford explaining that he had texted his supervisor for help with the tire but did not immediately get a response. He then got back on the road, intending to drive the remaining six miles to his destination with the flat tire.

“He made the conscious decision to pull back from a place of safety, and as a result of that decision ... Ms. Lesniewski did strike the back of his vehicle and ultimately, as a result, lost her life,” Assistant State’s Attorney Felise Kelly said.

Shackelford did not testify at trial. Before sentencing, he addressed the court.

“I am truly sorry for what happened,” Shackelford said. “If I knew driving with a flat tire would be dangerous like that, I wouldn’t have done it. I am just sorry.”

A crash investigator testified that Lesniewski may have been asleep at the wheel or distracted by her cell phone when she hit the FedEx truck.

Sgt. Daniel Rumaker of the Maryland State Police testified that he found no skid marks before the impact site and that Lesniewski’s cell phone was found melted into the left dashboard area of the vehicle. On further questioning, he conceded that anti-lock brakes are less likely to leave skid marks. He also said the phone’s activity had not been investigated to determine whether Lesniewski was using it at the time of the crash.

Authorities said Shackelford’s driver’s license had expired earlier in the month and that his paperwork incorrectly stated he was driving a different truck. He also was found guilty of falsifying his duty records.

Shapiro told Judge Cusson that Shackelford’s employer knew his license had expired and had instructed him to use another person’s driver’s license number until he could get it renewed.

06/16/2026

UPDATE: Man Convicted in Stabbing in Mall Parking Lot Sentenced to Seven Years

Judge Wendy Epstein on Monday sentenced Anthony Scott, 34, to 30 years in prison with all but seven of those years suspended on his conviction of attempted second-degree murder.

The suspended sentence means he could be returned to prison for up to 23 additional years if he violates his five years of probation after being released from his initial incarceration.

Scott originally was charged with first-degree attempted murder in the Oct. 4, 2025, knife attack on Jada Davis in the parking lot near the Brass Tap restaurant at Towson Town Center mall.

In March, a jury found Scott guilty of second-degree murder and violating a protective order.

Davis and Scott had been in an on-again-off-again relationship.

At trial, Davis testified she’d arranged to meet Scott in the parking lot off Fairmount Avenue to have him return some of her belongings.

Prosecutors argued Scott attacked Davis in a rage, stabbing and cutting her 14 times as she sat in her car and then in the parking lot as she tried to flee.

Defense attorney J. Wyndal Gordon argued Scott had no intent to kill and initially acted in self-defense after Davis bit his finger as he reached into the car.

Scott, a single father who was an Amazon delivery driver before his arrest, had no significant criminal history prior to the stabbing.

TOWSON — A Baltimore County jury found a Pikesville man guilty of attempted second-degree murder Thursday for stabbing his former girlfriend in the parking lot of a local mall. Anthony Bryant Scott Sr., 33, was charged with first-degree attempted murder in the Oct. 4, 2025, knife attack on Jada Da...

06/13/2026

The plea is non-binding, meaning Judge Mickey Norman is not required to abide by the terms of the agreement. Norman could sentence Logue to more or less prison time or modify the sentence in other ways if he deems it appropriate.
Sentencing is set for July 27.

A 28-year-old Towson man originally accused of attacking and ra**ng a woman he met on a dating app withdrew his insanity plea Thursday and entered a guilty plea to felony assault and a misdemeanor s*x offense.

The agreement would have Samuel Logue, who was accused of a violent, hours-long attack on a woman he met on Hinge, serve eight years in prison.

Logue originally was charged with first-degree r**e with a dangerous weapon, second-degree r**e, false imprisonment, multiple counts of assault, a fi****ms offense and malicious destruction of property, according to court records. If convicted of those original charges, he could have faced up to life in prison.

According to a transcript of the hearing obtained by the Baltimore County Courtroom Observer, the State's Attorney's Office will ask for a 25-year sentence, with all but eight years suspended, meaning Logue could face 17 additional years in prison if he violates the terms of his five years of s*x-offender probation following his initial period of incarceration.

The state will also ask that Logue be required to register as a s*x offender for 15 years. Logue’s defense attorney, Brian Thompson, said he plans to seek a modification that potentially could have his client removed from the registry before 15 years.

Assistant State's Attorney Michael DeStefano said the victim was consulted about the terms of the plea agreement.

"We do not want to re-victimize (her) and have her testify in court, so we all agreed this was a proper resolution to this case," DeStefano said.

The victim told investigators she met Logue online in late October 2024. After the two met in person, she traveled with him from her home in northern Virginia to his home on Prospect Circle in Towson the following day.

Logue's accuser told police that on Oct. 27, 2024, he punched her, gouged her eyes, choked her and forced his fingers down her throat. The victim also told police Logue s*xually assaulted her.

At one point during the ordeal, the victim said, Logue forced the barrel of a rifle into her mouth and said, "I could shoot you in five seconds."

The rifle was later determined to be a BB gun, DeStefano said in court Thursday.

The woman described Logue as acting like a "lunatic," cycling between rage and calmness. She said he barricaded her inside a bedroom by shoving a dresser against the door.

Logue originally pleaded not criminally responsible — Maryland's version of an insanity plea. He withdrew that plea Thursday and entered a guilty plea to one count of first-degree assault and one count of fourth-degree s*x offense.

Sentencing is set for July 27.

For an expanded version of this story see link in comments.

06/12/2026

Lawyers, a judge and legal personnel arrived early Thursday morning to Courtroom 19 in Baltimore County Circuit Court for the start of a r**e trial. Fourteen jurors waited in a back room, ready for opening statements.

The defendant, however, was nowhere to be found.

German Perez-Hernandez, 41, of Glen Burnie, had been out of jail on pretrial release while awaiting his day in court.

At 10:44 p.m. Wednesday, on the eve of the trial date, the monitoring company responsible for keeping track of Perez-Hernandez received a notice that his GPS device had been tampered with, according to court transcripts.

WatchTower, the company responsible for keeping track of Perez-Hernandez, reported that the device was pinging on East Furnace Branch Road in Glen Burnie.

“It appears that Mr. Perez-Hernandez has completely cut off his GPS monitoring device and thrown it on the side of the road, where it remains,” Judge Stacy Mayer said Thursday morning.

Mayer waited more than an hour for the defendant to show up, or for his attorney or someone to make contact with him to see if there was an innocent explanation for his tardiness and the tampering.

By 9:45 a.m., Perez-Hernandez had not materialized or made contact, so Mayer issued a warrant for his arrest.

Perez-Hernandez had been on pretrial release since Oct. 9, 2025, according to court documents.

Baltimore County Police had arrested him on April 24, 2025, at an apartment on Fellowship Court in West Towson.

A woman who told police she was his ex-girlfriend said Perez-Hernandez had been asleep in a separate bedroom of the apartment but came into her room uninvited around 3:30 a.m.

She told police he cut off her shorts and underwear with a knife, removed her sweatshirt, and r**ed her.

“The victim stated after the s*xual assault, the suspect held the victim at knifepoint and forced her to delete all the contents from her cellphone,” according to police documents.

She said he took her phone, computer, and watch “because he wanted to scan through it to see who she's been talking to.”

Once officers arrived, Perez-Hernandez tried to flee through a back sliding door of the apartment, police said.

Perez-Hernandez told officers in a police interview that the s*x had been consensual.

“The suspect stated he thought he and the victim's relationship was good. He does not know why she's doing this to him,” police wrote in charging documents.

Perez-Hernandez is charged with first-degree r**e with a dangerous weapon, assault, armed robbery, theft, and other related charges.

Defense attorney Asher Weinberg asked Judge Mayer to consider going forward with the case without his client present.

“We would ask the court to consider trial in absentia,” he said. “Counsel is ready. The state is ready. A whole lot of people—a hundred people yesterday—spent all day here yesterday. Fourteen of those people showed up this morning prepared to try the case. Your Honor is prepared to try the case.”

Weinberg said Perez-Hernandez knew the trial was set to start Thursday and knew what time to arrive.

“We don’t know why he’s not here,” he said. “If he did remove the bracelet and abscond, that is him voluntarily removing himself...and it is the court’s discretion to allow the trial to continue or go on or to start.”

Because the jury had been selected but not sworn in, the prosecution opted not to continue without the defendant being present.

“I have too much concern regarding potential constitutional issues and ramifications by moving forward at this stage without the defendant being present,” Assistant State’s Attorney John Magee said.

Mayer issued a bench warrant for Perez-Hernandez’s arrest and said all previous pretrial conditions are revoked. Once he is located, Mayer said, he is to remain jailed until he can be brought before her in court.

Perez-Hernandez is described as 5 feet 6 inches tall, 140 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.

06/11/2026

A 28-year-old Towson man originally accused of attacking and ra**ng a woman he met on a dating app withdrew his insanity plea Thursday and entered a guilty plea to felony assault and a misdemeanor s*x offense.

The agreement would have Samuel Logue, who was accused of a violent, hours-long attack on a woman he met on Hinge, serve eight years in prison.

Logue originally was charged with first-degree r**e with a dangerous weapon, second-degree r**e, false imprisonment, multiple counts of assault, a fi****ms offense and malicious destruction of property, according to court records. If convicted of those original charges, he could have faced up to life in prison.

According to a transcript of the hearing obtained by the Baltimore County Courtroom Observer, the State's Attorney's Office will ask for a 25-year sentence, with all but eight years suspended, meaning Logue could face 17 additional years in prison if he violates the terms of his five years of s*x-offender probation following his initial period of incarceration.

The state will also ask that Logue be required to register as a s*x offender for 15 years. Logue’s defense attorney, Brian Thompson, said he plans to seek a modification that potentially could have his client removed from the registry before 15 years.

Assistant State's Attorney Michael DeStefano said the victim was consulted about the terms of the plea agreement.

"We do not want to re-victimize (her) and have her testify in court, so we all agreed this was a proper resolution to this case," DeStefano said.

The victim told investigators she met Logue online in late October 2024. After the two met in person, she traveled with him from her home in northern Virginia to his home on Prospect Circle in Towson the following day.

Logue's accuser told police that on Oct. 27, 2024, he punched her, gouged her eyes, choked her and forced his fingers down her throat. The victim also told police Logue s*xually assaulted her.

At one point during the ordeal, the victim said, Logue forced the barrel of a rifle into her mouth and said, "I could shoot you in five seconds."

The rifle was later determined to be a BB gun, DeStefano said in court Thursday.

The woman described Logue as acting like a "lunatic," cycling between rage and calmness. She said he barricaded her inside a bedroom by shoving a dresser against the door.

Logue originally pleaded not criminally responsible — Maryland's version of an insanity plea. He withdrew that plea Thursday and entered a guilty plea to one count of first-degree assault and one count of fourth-degree s*x offense.

Sentencing is set for July 27.

For an expanded version of this story see link in comments.

06/08/2026

ROSEDALE–For years, "Pastor Tommy" Pinkerton cultivated an image as a devoted youth pastor and “spiritual father” to the teens in his church group. On Monday, he pleaded guilty to a s*x offense, coming a step closer to resolving one of several felony charges stemming from allegations by former youth group members.

Thomas Pinkerton Jr., 52, of Winder, Ga., entered a guilty plea to one felony charge of s*xual abuse of a minor before Circuit Court Judge Marc DeSimone.

As part of the plea agreement, DeSimone agreed to hand down a 25-year suspended sentence, with up to four years of active jail time. State sentencing guidelines for Pinkerton, who has no prior criminal history, are four to nine years in prison.

Pinkerton's attorney, Justin Hollimon, will be free to argue at sentencing for less than four years of prison time. The suspended sentence means Pinkerton could face 21 additional years in prison if he violates the terms of his five-year probation after his incarceration.

Pinkerton, who served on the staff of Central Christian Church on Rossville Boulevard more than 15 years ago, had left the Rosedale-area church to start his own ministry at the time of his arrest in Georgia, according to a statement issued by Central Christian.

During his time at Central, Pinkerton built a reputation as a charismatic, fun-loving leader with a "magnetic" personality. But people police interviewed said he favored the most attractive, athletic boys.

“The favorites would sit closer to Pinkerton, ride with him to places for church events in the church van, and spend more time with Pinkerton,” an investigator from the Baltimore County Police Department wrote in charging documents.

In the fall of 2024, former members of the youth group started coming forward and agreeing to be interviewed, telling police Pinkerton’s affection eventually evolved into s*xual abuse.

The alleged abuse happened from 2006 to 2010, Baltimore County police said, and involved multiple victims. The youngest alleged victim was 13 years old at the time.

Sentencing is set for December 14 following a psychos*xual evaluation. Pinkerton will continue to be jailed without bond.

Pinkerton was arrested Aug. 6, 2025 and initially pleaded not guilty. Under the plea agreement, all but one of his charges will be dismissed.

His alleged victims said he frequently greeted boys by kissing them on the lips in ways some would later describe as feeling more romantic than fatherly.

He would also wrestle with the boys, give them massages, and touch their ge****ls in a “joking manner,” victims reported.

One man told an investigator the touching when he was a teen did not seem to be s*xual at the time, but he said that this joking behavior “normalized the ge***al contact and led to what later occurred.”

A total of seven men reported Pinkerton abusing them, according to charging documents. Six said the abuse occurred in Baltimore County, and another man reported abuse that allegedly happened to him in Georgia.

Some victims said Pinkerton molested them in his home on the 5100 block of Strawbridge Terrace when Pinkerton’s wife and children were away. On mission trips, victims reported, Pinkerton would have the boys sleep with him in his bed while Pinkerton’s wife stayed with the girls elsewhere.

Per the terms of his plea, Pinkerton will have to register as a s*x offender for the rest of his life.

For an expanded version of this story, see link in comments below.

06/05/2026

****BREAKING*****A Baltimore County jury has found Zayeed Abdul-Muhaimin guilty of second-degree murder for a second time in his retrial for the shotgun death of his former middle school teacher.

The jury began deliberations Thursday afternoon after seven days of witness testimony, which included Abdul-Muhaimin taking the stand to tell his side of the story.

A verdict was returned around noon Friday.

Abdul-Muhaimin, 28, was tried on one count of second-degree murder in the Dec. 27, 2020 killing of 36-year-old Shelton Stanley, an assistant principal at Dunbar High School. He faces up to 40 years in prison. Sentencing is set for July 17.

Abdul-Muhaimin was found guilty of the same crime in a 2022 trial and sentenced to 35 years in prison. The conviction was overturned by a state appellate court.

He admitted shooting Stanley with a shotgun in Stanley's Pikesville home but claimed he fired in self-defense because Stanley was brandishing a gun. The defense said Stanley was upset that Abdul-Muhaimin had not carried out a kidnapping for him and that Stanley wanted s*x from him.

The prosecution team argued Abdul-Muhaimin killed Stanley for money. They said the two had been in a mutual, consensual relationship and that Abdul-Muhaimin never brought up the alleged s*xual abuse until after he was charged with murder.

"The defendant never told this story honestly," Assistant State’s Attorney Matt Darnbrough said. "Common sense tells you that this was murder."

The defense team told jurors Thursday in closings that Stanley s*xually abused Abdul-Muhaimin when Stanley was a math teacher and Abdul-Muhaimin was in seventh grade, saying he continued to manipulate the defendant as he got older, pressuring him for s*x and keeping their relationship a secret.

On the night of the shooting, according to the defense, Stanley told Abdul-Muhaimin he had always wanted him s*xually. And, they said, he told Abdul-Muhaimin that because he had not brought back a lover Stanley had wanted kidnapped, Abdul-Muhaimin was "going to give him (Stanley) what he wanted."

"Stanley was threatening him with a gun," defense attorney Michael Scarantino told jurors.
"Zayeed shot him until he was no longer a threat."

For more details, see story linked in comments or go to courtroom observer. com to read prior reporting.

06/04/2026

A Baltimore County prosecutor spent much of Wednesday's cross-examination confronting murder defendant Zayeed Abdul-Muhaimin with inconsistencies between testimony he gave this week and statements he made during his 2022 trial in the killing of his former teacher and mentor Shelton Stanley.

The questioning focused on differing accounts about who helped wrap Stanley's body, an alleged kidnapping plot, money transferred from Stanley's bank account and Abdul-Muhaimin's account of the shooting itself.

Prosecutor Matt Darnbrough said he identified more than 30 inconsistencies in Abdul-Muhaimin's versions of events.

Abdul-Muhaimin acknowledged differences in some of his accounts but maintained that he shot Stanley in self-defense.

“At the end of the day, I defended myself and I said, maybe not specifically the same things, but I said the same things,” Abdul-Muhaimin said.

Read the latest from the retrial at courtroomobserver .com or follow the link posted in the comments below.

06/03/2026

When Zayeed Abdul-Muhaimin's murder retrial began in Baltimore County last week, jurors were not expected to hear his allegations that his former middle school teacher s*xually abused him years before Abdul-Muhaimin shot him to death.

That changed Tuesday when a judge reversed course and allowed the testimony.

Abdul-Muhaimin, 28, testified in his own defense Tuesday and told jurors that Shelton Stanley had touched him inappropriately and s*xually assaulted him when Abdul-Muhaimin was in middle school and Stanley was a math teacher at Friendship Academy. He rode with Stanley to and from school daily, and the assault happened in the car, Abdul-Muhaimin said.

The two remained in each other's lives in the years that followed, with Stanley, 36, taking on the role of mentor to the younger man. Abdul-Muhaimin lived with Stanley on and off for several years.

In fall of 2020, Abdul-Muhaimin said, the relationship changed after he attempted to set boundaries with his former teacher.

"I feel like, if you're my mentor or you're a father figure, or you're a friend ... you shouldn't try to do things that a person is against," he testified. "I'm trying to confide in you about my girlfriend and you're trying to make s*xual advances on me."

In late December 2020, Abdul-Muhaimin said, he shot Stanley with a shotgun during a confrontation over an alleged abduction plot.

Under questioning by defense attorney Elizabeth Crow, Abdul-Muhaimin said Stanley had asked him if he wanted to make money by kidnapping a man and bringing him to Stanley.

The defense team has said the man was Stanley's romantic partner, who had been pulling away from the relationship.

Abdul-Muhaimin said he agreed, but when he did not go through with the plan, Stanley was "disappointed."

During a heated conversation on Dec. 27, 2020, he said, Stanley became aggressive and grabbed a handgun. That's when Abdul-Muhaimin went to a nearby bedroom closet, retrieved a shotgun and opened fire. He said Stanley fired a shot into the floor as he fired the first shotgun blast.

Police found Stanley's body wrapped in blankets and plastic in the basement later that day. Nearly every surface of the home had been wiped with bleach.

Investigators have said Abdul-Muhaimin tried to withdraw money from Stanley's bank account after the shooting and then used a banking app to transfer $2,500 from Stanley's account to Abdul-Muhaimin's girlfriend.

Abdul-Muhaimin said he had used Stanley's bank card before the shooting to check the account balance and make sure Stanley had enough money to pay him for the kidnapping. He said he found the card in Stanley's car. A list of supplies investigators found on Abdul-Muhaimin's phone — including an electric saw and plastic wrap — were items he thought he might need for the kidnapping, he testified.

Abdul-Muhaimin is expected to return to the witness stand Wednesday for cross-examination.

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