Man Accused of Stabbing Woman Outside Shops at Towson Town Center Goes on Trial

A woman stabbed outside Towson Town Center last year likely would have died if not for a transit officer who happened to be nearby, a Baltimore County prosecutor told jurors Tuesday.

Anthony Bryant Scott, 33, is on trial charged with attempted first-degree murder in the stabbing of his on-again-off-again girlfriend Jada Davis.

Davis testified she’d arranged to meet Scott in the parking lot of the Brass Tap restaurant off Fairmount Avenue Oct. 4, 2025, to have him return some of her belongings. 

Shortly after they met at her car, he started “fussing” at her, showing her something on his phone — a Twitter message he felt proved she had been seeing someone else. 

Not wanting to engage, she said, she started to drive away. That’s when Scott and reached into the car began attacking her with a knife, Davis testified. The struggle later spilled out into the parking lot.

Witnesses who were at the scene testified they tried to stop the attack by yelling at Scott, but he continued stabbing Davis.

An MTA police officer, Rafael Ascencio Jr., who was patrolling nearby, stopped his car on Fairmount Avenue and entered the parking lot by cutting through a small group of bushes. Ascencio testified he drew his gun, ordered Scott to the ground and held him there at gunpoint until Baltimore County police officers arrived. 

“The right place at the right time,” Assistant State’s Attorney Emily Abell told jurors in her opening statements. “We submit to you that if Officer Ascencio hadn’t been on duty, Jada Davis would be dead.”

Defense attorney J. Wyndal Gordon conceded that his client cut Davis, but he said the case did not meet the standard of attempted murder or first-degree assault. Gordon said in opening statements that the two had planned an “amorous rendezvous” that day but things took a turn. 

Gordon said Davis bit his client’s hand “so much that the meat showed,” forcing Scott to defend himself.

The video of the incident is “horrendous,” Gordon said, and he admitted this wasn’t Scott’s “finest hour.” But, he said, Davis’ injuries were mostly superficial cuts, not puncture wounds. He said the facts don’t support a murder or first-degree assault charge. 

“We’re here because this wasn’t an attempt to take her life," Gordon said. He said the crime amounted to second-degree assault.

Davis testified Scott tried to slit her throat and stabbed her in the arm and back. She said she grabbed the knife blade to stop the attack and sustained tendon injuries to her hands. She was also cut on her neck, bicep and the side of her back.

She was hospitalized for four days at Shock Trauma after the attack and currently is scheduled for a hand surgery. 

Assistant State’s Attorney Matt Darnbrough asked Davis about the amount of force Scott used as he attacked her.

“He was giving it his all,” Davis said. 

One witness characterized the force as “blows meant for serious bodily harm or possible death.”

Ascencio’s body-worn camera showed a chaotic and bloody scene, with Davis screaming, her white dress soaked with blood. One juror wept while the footage was being shown. 

The defense questioned several witnesses on cross-examination about the severity of Davis’ injuries, calling attention to the difference between a laceration and a puncture wound. 

If convicted of first-degree attempted murder, Scott could face up to life in prison.

Testimony is set to resume tomorrow.