On the evening of June 26, 2018, in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, a young man named James Puryear Jr. was lured to his death under false pretenses. At approximately 9:45 p.m., police responded to multiple 911 calls reporting gunshots in the 8700 block of Binghampton Place. Upon arrival, they discovered the body of 22-year-old James Puryear Jr. lying in the grass, having sustained 14 gunshot wounds and multiple lacerations from blunt force trauma.
He was pronounced dead at the scene by emergency medical personnel.
The investigation into the death of the male victim quickly led detectives to a person of interest, 23-year-old Alhaji Bah of Bowie, who was an acquaintance of Puryear. Initially, Bah distanced himself from any involvement. However, forensic evidence, including fingerprints, DNA, and cell phone data, placed him at the scene of the shooting at the time the 911 calls were made. The investigation revealed a possible motive: an associate of Bah had been shot the day before Puryear's murder. Believing Puryear was somehow involved, Bah conspired to murder him.
Alhaji Bah was arrested in December 2018 and charged with first and second-degree murder and related offenses. While a jury later acquitted him of the murder charge, he was found guilty of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in January 2020. In September of that year, a judge sentenced Bah, then 25, to 80 years in prison, with all but 28 years suspended. Upon his release, he will be subject to five years of supervised probation and is prohibited from contacting the victim's family.
