Romy Bogier, a 43-year-old Black / African American man from Parkville, Maryland, was killed on Labor Day, September 2, 2024, after an argument escalated into a deadly confrontation in the parking lot of White Oak School on Leefield Road. Bogier was a Baltimore native, a widowed father of three and a grandfather. At about 4:20 p.m., while the school was closed for the holiday, Baltimore County police were called to the area after reports of gunfire.
Bogier was found in the school parking lot with a gunshot wound to his head. He was rushed to the University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center, where he died from his injuries.
Investigators determined that Bogier, his adult son Remy and James Clark had arrived together at the school in a Hyundai Santa Fe owned by Bogier. Surveillance cameras captured the three men getting out of the vehicle and becoming involved in an argument. Charging documents initially described Bogier as holding a small handgun at his side before Clark tackled him and gained possession of the weapon. Clark was accused of standing over Bogier after he had fallen to the ground, bending down and shooting him in the head at close range. Clark then allegedly fired several shots in the direction of Remy as the younger man ran from the parking lot.
Early news accounts described Remy as having been shot, but testimony presented when the case eventually went to trial provided a different account. Jurors were told that Remy was not struck by the gunfire. Instead, he fell while fleeing as Clark fired at him, hit his head and suffered a fractured skull. He was taken to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. The injury was serious, although police later described it as non-life-threatening. Because of the head trauma, Remy testified at trial that he had little memory of what happened on the day his father was killed.
The investigation quickly produced evidence pointing police toward Clark. Detectives found a wallet near suspected blood in the parking lot, and inside were identification cards belonging to James Clark. Investigators compared Clark's identification photograph and previous police body-camera footage with the man captured by the school's surveillance system. Authorities noted that the suspect wore a blue Los Angeles Dodgers jacket similar to one Clark had previously been recorded wearing and that both Clark and the person in the surveillance footage walked with a noticeable limp. Police later arrested Clark in the parking lot of a motel on Joppa Road. According to later trial testimony, Bogier's handgun was found in Clark's pocket when he was taken into custody.
Clark, who was 44 when arrested, was initially charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence. Authorities also accused him of driving away from the scene in Bogier's vehicle, and a car-theft charge was included by the time the case went to trial. Clark was ordered held without bond at the Baltimore County Detention Center while the case proceeded through court.
The case reached a Baltimore County jury trial in November 2025, when additional details emerged about the events leading to the shooting. Prosecutors and the defense agreed that Bogier and Clark knew each other and that surveillance footage captured the killing. According to the defense, the men had argued over a debt of only a few dollars before Bogier, Clark and Remy traveled to the school parking lot. The evidence showed Bogier striking Clark while holding the handgun. Prosecutors maintained that whatever threat Clark initially faced had ended by the time he gained control of the weapon, tackled Bogier, held him down and fired into his head. They argued that Clark had become the aggressor and was no longer acting in lawful self-defense when he pulled the trigger.
Clark's attorneys presented the shooting as self-defense, contending that he had been pistol-whipped and was struggling over the gun. Clark testified during the trial and gave differing explanations for what happened, at one point saying the firearm discharged accidentally and elsewhere saying that he shot Bogier because Bogier had struck him with the weapon. A forensic psychologist testified that Clark had a documented history of serious mental illness and had himself previously been shot several times, circumstances the defense argued affected his perception of the confrontation. The psychologist nevertheless concluded that Clark did not meet Maryland's legal standard for being found not criminally responsible for the shooting. Prosecutors also told jurors that Clark had made admissions during his police interview.
By November 23, 2025, the jury had begun deliberating Clark's murder, attempted-murder, firearms and vehicle-theft charges, with deliberations scheduled to continue the following day. The online reporting located for the case documents Clark's arrest, prosecution and trial in detail but does not reliably establish a final verdict or sentencing outcome after those deliberations.
