Deadly Dice Game: Man Accused of Shooting on Dundalk School Grounds Faces Jury

DUNDALK—Gunfire at a 2024 summer dice game on the grounds of a Baltimore County elementary school left a 20-year-old man dead. On Wednesday, the man accused in the shooting faced a jury.

Deandre Stokes, 28, of Baltimore, is on trial this week charged with first-degree murder and weapons offenses. The charges stem from the fatal shooting of Jamel Nation at Colgate Elementary School on the 7700 block of Gough Street July 1, 2024. 

If convicted, Stokes could face life in prison.

Baltimore County Assistant State’s Attorney Daniel Scapardine said Nation was hanging out at the school that night with friends, watching, but not playing, because “he’s not the gambling type.”

Video surveillance from the school showed about 30 men congregating near the playground on the sidewalk by the school building.

“At some point, however, the fun stops,” Scapardine said in opening statements.

Video shows some sort of disturbance among the men just before 10 p.m. The shooting itself is not caught on camera, and the video has no sound. But men can be seen scattering, and Stokes can be seen running with a gun, his shirt partially covering his face.

Stokes’ defense attorney, Robert Cole, told jurors Nation also had a gun that night. He said his client overheard a robbery being planned and confronted another man who was with Nation.

“Mr. Nation was not there to play dice,” Cole said. “He wasn’t there to have fun. He was there to commit armed robbery.”

Stokes was trying to disarm Nation, Cole said. There was a struggle and Stokes fired in self-defense, Cole told jurors. Nation was shot in the back of the head.

In video shown in court, Nation can be seen approaching an off-camera disturbance with his hands raised in a “surrender” stance. 

Testimony is set to resume Thursday morning.