On March 20, 2007, Ricardo Paige was found deceased in the living room of his home on the 500 block of East 43rd Street in Baltimore, Maryland, having sustained multiple gunshot wounds. His daughter and grandson made the discovery.
Investigators identified Kevin Armstead, also known as 'Muggs,' as a person of interest in the homicide. The investigation suggested a possible motive related to a belief by Armstead and his associates that Paige was responsible for a police raid on a nearby stash house they allegedly operated. Witnesses reported overhearing conversations where Armstead and others blamed Paige for the raid and expressed intent to retaliate.
Following the investigation, Kevin Armstead, along with Trendon Washington and Jamal Fulton, were arrested in connection with Paige's murder. Armstead was apprehended in Decatur, Georgia, where he was using the alias 'James L. Jefferson.' During an interview with detectives on April 10, 2008, he made a statement questioning why he was not solely charged with conspiracy.
Armstead was indicted by a grand jury in Baltimore City on charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and several handgun offenses. Following a jury trial, he was acquitted of first-degree murder but found guilty of second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. The court sentenced him to a term of thirty years for the second-degree murder conviction and a consecutive life sentence for the conspiracy charge. Subsequent appeals and post-conviction proceedings have occurred in the years following his conviction.
