Jury Hangs in Dice-Game Murder Trial

TOWSON– A mistrial was declared in a Baltimore County murder trial Friday when a jury could not agree on a verdict in the case of a man accused of shooting a bystander at a Dundalk dice game.

The case of 28-year-old Deandre Stokes will be set for re-trial after the jury hung Friday night after deliberating for about six hours. 

Stokes testified he did not intend to shoot Jamel Nation, 20, during a dice game on July 1, 2024, on the grounds of Colgate Elementary School in Dundalk. Stokes said he overheard Nation and others discussing a robbery and had approached Nation to see if he was armed.

Stokes testified he was carrying a gun and that Nation also had a handgun in his pants. 

He said he was trying to disarm Nation and the two were struggling when his gun fired, striking Nation once in the back of the head. Nation later died. Neither weapon was recovered.

Stokes testified that dice games involve “a lot of money” and said he brought $1,500 with him that night. He said he had armed himself because he knew from previous experience that the games could attract violence. Stokes said he had won $300 to $400 that night when he observed and heard Nation and others acting as if they were preparing for a robbery.

“I knew what he was trying to do to us,” Stokes said. “He was trying to rob us.” 

Stokes testified he pulled out his gun and pointed it toward the ground before first approaching a man who’d been with Nation, and then approaching Nation himself. Seconds later, Stokes and Nation struggled and fell to the ground, at which point a gun fired. Stokes testified Nation had pulled out a handgun and pointed it at him. The exchange was not caught on security cameras.

Defense attorney Robert Cole argued Nation had been observing the dice games throughout the day and changed his appearance as night fell, putting on a face mask and pulling up his sweatshirt’s hood. 

“He walks around, just observing who’s got the money,” Cole said. “He’s scoping out the game.”

Prosecutors disputed that account. Assistant State’s Attorney Daniel Scapardine said Nation putting on a face mask and hood was insignificant and argued that none of the video from that night showed Nation with a gun. 

“The only person who was brandishing a firearm, the only person who used a firearm to execute another, was this defendant,” Scapardine said.