Cross-Examination Focuses on Contradictions in Murder Defendant’s Accounts

In a pointed cross-examination Wednesday, murder defendant Zayeed Abdul-Muhaimin was confronted with numerous inconsistencies between testimony he gave this week and statements he made under oath during his first trial in 2022.

“At the end of the day, I defended myself and I said, maybe not specifically the same things, but I said the same things,” Abdul-Muhaimin said.

Abdul-Muhaimin, 28, is being retried on a second-degree murder charge in the Dec. 27, 2020, shooting death of Shelton Stanley, a 36-year-old assistant principal at Dunbar High School who'd taken on the role of mentor to the younger man. Abdul-Muhaimin admits shooting Stanley but claims he acted in self-defense.

Assistant State's Attorney Matt Darnbrough spent much of the day highlighting differences between Abdul-Muhaimin's testimony at the two trials, saying he had counted more than 30 inconsistenties. Abdul-Muhaimin gave varying accounts of the timeline, who helped him after the shooting, money transferred from Stanley’s bank account, an alleged kidnapping plot, a list of supplies found on his phone and the circumstances of the shooting.

One significant difference was Abdul-Muhaimin's account of what happened after the shooting. At his 2022 trial, he testified that he alone wrapped Stanley's body in blankets and plastic and wiped down the home with bleach.

“I had a panic attack and I just started pouring cleaning supplies everywhere,” Abdul-Muhaimin said.

On Wednesday, he said two friends and a masked man he did not know wrapped Stanley’s body and helped clean the scene. He testified that he did not previously mention the three men helping because he was trying to protect them.

Darnbrough also challenged Abdul-Muhaimin's claim that Stanley had hired him to kidnap another man, noting that investigators found no texts or emails corroborating the alleged plot. Abdul-Muhaimin acknowledged he did not know exactly how much he would be paid or when he would receive payment.

“So you’re doing this job and you have no idea if or when he’s going to pay you?” Darnbrough asked.

Abdul-Muhaimin claims a bank transfer shortly after 1 a.m. on Dec. 27, 2020, was payment from Stanley. Prosecutors contend Abdul-Muhaimin made the transfer himself using Stanley’s phone. He testified that he had asked for and received Stanley’s phone passcode the day before.

Darnbrough also pointed out differences in Abdul-Muhaimin’s account of the night he said he set out to find a man Stanley allegedly wanted kidnapped. At the first trial, Abdul-Muhaimin said he spotted the man, confronted him and spoke with him. He said the man then ran away. On Tuesday, he testified that he never saw the man he was looking for.

Darnbrough asked Abdul-Muhaimin why he returned to Stanley’s house after failing to carry out the alleged kidnapping plot.

“Why would you go back to Shelton Stanley’s home after he asked you to commit a kidnapping with a gun?” Darnbrough asked.

Abdul-Muhaimin said he returned because he had Stanley’s gun and was staying at Stanley’s home. He said he was not thinking clearly.

On Tuesday, Abdul-Muhaimin said Stanley was holding a gun and gesturing aggressively with it just before Abdul-Muhaimin shot him with a shotgun. He also claimed Stanley fired a shot from the Glock into the floor. Darnbrough recalled prior testimony in which Abdul-Muhaimin said Stanley was near the gun and that he did not know if Stanley fired the gun.

Abdul-Muhaimin testified at his first trial that a list of supplies investigators found on his phone — including tarps, gloves, bleach and an electric saw — was for handyman jobs he planned to do after moving to California. On Tuesday, he testified that the list consisted of items he thought he might need for the kidnapping. Abdul-Muhaimin explained that the note had been edited and said he could not be sure when certain items were added.

The defense has characterized Abdul-Muhaimin as someone who was groomed and sexually abused by Stanley beginning in middle school.

Abdul-Muhaimin testified Wednesday that he has never had consensual sex with a man and that Stanley had made unwelcome sexual advances toward him. He said he texted his then-girlfriend in November 2020 that he told Stanley “to stop trying to f—k” him.

The defense also called to the stand the man who was allegedly the target of the kidnapping plot. The man testified that he had been a student of Stanley's and that the two began a consensual relationship when he was in college. Jurors were not allowed to see text messages between the two men that were sexual in nature. Judge Thomas Tompsett had previously ruled them inadmissible. In pretrial hearings, the defense said the texts showed the man distancing himself from the relationship.

The man was not asked about the alleged kidnapping plot.

Attorneys are expected to present closing arguments Thursday morning, with the case going to jury for deliberations later in the day.