On a late Saturday evening, the life of 27-year-old Fillmore James Burris was tragically cut short in Glen Burnie, Maryland. On September 12, 2020, at approximately 10:45 p.m., police responded to reports of a fight in the 500 block of Delaware Avenue. Upon arrival, they discovered Burris lying in the street, having sustained fatal gunshot wounds. Investigations revealed that Burris, a male, had been involved in an altercation with family members before three other men approached.
An
argument then erupted between Burris and the three individuals over them videotaping him. The confrontation quickly escalated, and one of the men produced a handgun and shot Burris. The three suspects fled the scene immediately after the shooting. Homicide detectives and the Evidence Collection Unit processed the scene, collecting physical and digital evidence. An autopsy later confirmed that the cause of death was gunshot wounds and the manner was homicide. Burris, who was known to friends and family as 'James,' left behind a fiancée and a young daughter.
Through witness interviews, authorities identified the shooter as 21-year-old Khiry Dewann Queen of Glen Burnie. The Anne Arundel County Police Department obtained an arrest warrant for Queen, charging him with second-degree murder, first and second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, and several firearm-related offenses. After a search, Khiry Queen turned himself in to the police on October 30, 2020.
The legal proceedings that followed brought some measure of closure to the case. Khiry Queen's trial was scheduled to begin in October 2021. On October 12, 2022, Queen pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and the use of a gun in a violent crime. He was subsequently sentenced to 22 years in prison for his role in the death of Fillmore Burris.
