Judge Increases Sentence to 40 Years for Man Convicted Again in Killing of Former Teacher

A Baltimore County judge on Friday increased the prison sentence for a man convicted for a second time of fatally shooting his former teacher, citing the defendant's changing accounts of the crime.

Judge Thomas Tompsett sentenced Zayeed Abdul-Muhaimin, 28, to 40 years in prison for the Dec. 27, 2020, shotgun killing of Shelton Stanley, 36, an assistant principal at Dunbar High School and Abdul-Muhaimin's former middle school math teacher.

"The truth is not a principle for you; it's a convenience," Tompsett said before imposing the sentence.

Abdul-Muhaimin received a 35-year sentence after his first trial. However, Maryland's appellate court overturned that conviction after ruling prospective jurors had not been properly questioned about their views on firearms. A Baltimore County jury convicted him again of second-degree murder following a retrial in May.

Abdul-Muhaimin admitted shooting Stanley inside Stanley's Pikesville townhome but claimed he acted in self-defense after Stanley allegedly pointed a gun at him. The defense argued Stanley was angry because Abdul-Muhaimin had refused to carry out a kidnapping for him and wanted to have sex with him.

Defense attorneys also told jurors Stanley had sexually abused Abdul-Muhaimin when Stanley was his seventh-grade math teacher and continued manipulating him into adulthood by pressuring him for sex while keeping their relationship secret.

Prosecutors, however, argued the killing was motivated by money. They said Abdul-Muhaimin had lived with Stanley on and off since his teenage years and relied on him for financial support. According to prosecutors, Stanley had begun distancing himself from Abdul-Muhaimin in the weeks leading up to the shooting and was likely preparing to cut off that support.

They also contended the relationship between the two men was consensual and that Abdul-Muhaimin did not claim he had been sexually abused until after he was charged with murder.

During Friday's sentencing hearing, Assistant State's Attorney Matt Darnbrough argued that a text message Abdul-Muhaimin sent to his then-girlfriend shortly after the shooting was the closest he ever came to telling the truth.

In the message, Abdul-Muhaimin wrote that he had "caught a body." When his girlfriend asked why, he replied, "Because it paid."

The morning after the shooting, $2,500 was transferred from Stanley's bank account to Abdul-Muhaimin's then-girlfriend.

"That was the most honest version of what happened that came from the defendant," Darnbrough said of the text message. "Because he's done nothing but lie and lie repeatedly when given the opportunity to do so."

Darnbrough argued Abdul-Muhaimin repeatedly changed his story, both between the two trials and while testifying during the retrial. At trial, the prosecution pointed to inconsistent testimony about the timeline of events, who helped him after the shooting, money transferred from Stanley's bank account, the alleged kidnapping plot, a list of supplies found on Abdul-Muhaimin's phone, and the circumstances surrounding the shooting.

"The only thing consistent about his testimony is that it is wildly inconsistent," Darnbrough said, arguing Abdul-Muhaimin committed perjury by giving conflicting accounts.

"The first story he gave simply didn't work, so he came in here and tried to invent a different story," Darnbrough said.

The hearing began with the defense asking Tompsett to grant a new trial after learning that a juror had failed to disclose a 33-year-old disorderly conduct conviction during jury selection.

Defense attorney Elizabeth Crow argued the omission entitled Abdul-Muhaimin to a third trial for the sake of justice.

"This defect in the jury process denied Mr. Abdul-Muhaimin a fair trial," Crow said.

Tompsett denied the motion before proceeding to sentencing.