Man Who Fatally Shot Hookah Lounge Gunman Gets Five Years on Gun Charge

WOODLAWN — A 23-year-old man who fatally shot another man during a shooting at a Woodlawn hookah lounge last year pleaded guilty to a gun charge this week and was sentenced to five years in prison after investigators determined he had fired in defense of a companion.

The shooting happened May 2, 2025, when Alfred Brandy Jacobs Jr., 23, of Baltimore, was at the Azuz Hookah Lounge in the 1800 block of Woodlawn Drive around 12:30 a.m. with Kenyen Maurice Stills.

The incident started when Stills got into a shoving match with another patron, 28-year-old Elijah Lamback, after Lamback bumped into him, according to police.

Stills told police that Lamback pulled a gun and shot him twice, causing him to fall to the floor. He said Lamback was standing over him, poised to fire a third time, when Jacobs returned fire in his defense.

Jacobs shot Lamback four times, according to investigators. Lamback died from his injuries the following day.

But Jacobs’ gunfire also struck Oluwatoyin Olaleye, an uninvolved patron who was walking toward the restroom. A fourth man, Maleek Jer'el Tamar Smith, also was shot, although investigators did not determine whose gunfire struck him, according to the prosecution.

Stills, Olaleye and Smith survived. Stills and Olaleye were seriously injured and each has undergone multiple surgeries each as a result of their injuries.

Assistant State’s Attorney Kelsie Potts said the shooting was another example of the violence associated with some hookah lounges.

“I think we all know that hookah lounges are notorious at this point for non-fatal shootings and homicides,” she said. “The State would argue that no one should go to them because things like this happen all the time.”


Police found an empty gun holster and 9mm cartridge casings near where Lamback was found. Spent .40-caliber casings were recovered from the area where surveillance footage showed Jacobs firing, Potts said.

Jacobs fled after the shooting. His father and brother — a Baltimore County police detective — later identified him from surveillance video, Potts said.

Jacobs eluded police for four months before officers found him hiding in the attic of a home in the 2500 block of Hallam Court in Woodlawn on Sept. 11, 2025, she said.

Jacobs initially was charged with murder and assault, but prosecutors dropped those charges at Monday’s hearing. Investigators determined the evidence showed Jacobs had fired in defense of Stills.

Jacobs, however, was prohibited from possessing a firearm. Potts said he was convicted in 2022 of possession of a firearm by a minor, a conviction that barred him from legally possessing a gun in Maryland.

Jacobs pleaded guilty to illegal possession of a regulated firearm Monday in Baltimore County Circuit Court.

His attorney, Daniel Mooney, asked Judge Robert Cahill to impose a sentence that would allow Jacobs to serve no additional jail time beyond the year he had already served awaiting trial.

“He should not have had the firearm on him,” Mooney acknowledged. But without Jacobs’ intervention, he argued, another person might have been killed.

Mooney said Jacobs had no criminal history other than the 2022 gun conviction and was working full time when the shooting occurred.

“A young man lost his life, and it’s absolutely tragic,” Mooney said, “but the young man whose life Mr. Jacobs saved has obviously had the benefit of being able to continue living his life.”

Potts described the outcome of the case as “less than ideal” and asked Cahill to impose the maximum five-year sentence, noting that it was the second time Jacobs had been caught with a gun he was not supposed to have and arguing that Jacobs endangered the public when he opened fire in a crowded lounge.

“Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be much justice in this case at all,” she said.

Lamback’s mother, Twylene Rosenboro, told the judge that her family had been shattered by her son’s death.

“My family circle is now broken,” she said. “There is nothing and nobody who ever could take my son’s place. I will always have to have a hole in my heart.”

“Now all we have are memories.”

Cahill called the circumstances surrounding the shooting “nothing short of horrifying.”

“Anybody who describes this case as anything other than an abject tragedy would be incorrect,” he said.

Cahill said the case would have been different had Jacobs not previously been convicted of a gun offense. Jacobs knew he was prohibited from possessing a firearm but carried one anyway, the judge said.

Cahill sentenced him to the maximum five years in prison. Jacobs will receive credit for the year he has already served.

The Azuz Hookah Lounge is no longer in operation. Baltimore County police said after the shooting that the business lacked the county permit required to operate as a hookah and vapor lounge and was not licensed by the state.

Editor’s note: Reporting for this story was based on audio transcripts of Monday's court hearing.