On the night of October 30, 2021, Phillip Brown, a 44-year-old Black male from Bowie, Maryland, was working as a security guard at a private Halloween party held at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post in Lanham. Known affectionately as 'Zeus' to his family, the 6-foot-8 father of five had started his own security company about two years prior. Just before midnight, a dispute erupted in the parking lot, reportedly over french fries.
During the altercation, Brown was shot multiple times.
Emergency services were called to the scene at approximately 11:45 p.m., and Brown was rushed to a local hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. The initial investigation pointed to a man who had gotten into a dispute, allegedly because the venue had run out of french fries.
Following the shooting of Brown, a second security guard at the event returned fire, injuring the suspected gunman. A short time later, 32-year-old Damon Sams of Washington, D.C., walked into a local hospital with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds. After being treated and released, Sams was arrested and charged with first and second-degree murder, as well as assault charges in connection with Brown's death.
Damon Sams was extradited from the District of Columbia to Prince George's County to face the charges. The case went to trial, where prosecutors argued that Sams shot Brown twice in the abdomen over the dispute about french fries. However, Sams' defense attorney contended that while his client was present at the party and had been escorted out by Brown, he was not the shooter and did not have a gun. After approximately two hours of deliberation, a jury found Damon Sams not guilty of all charges.
