A 22-year-old medicine technician at a Maryland senior living facility has been charged with first-degree murder after police say he shot and killed 87-year-old Robert Fuller, a millionaire philanthropist and retired lawyer from Maine, inside the man's own apartment on Valentine's Day.
Montgomery County Police announced at a Feb. 25 news conference that officers took Marquise James into custody during a traffic stop the previous day, after he allegedly shot at a Maryland State Trooper. He now sits behind bars without bond.
Fuller was found unresponsive inside his apartment at the facility after emergency services responded around 7:34 a.m. on Feb. 14. Life-saving measures were attempted. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police noticed Fuller appeared to have head trauma, and homicide detectives alleged he had been shot.
The sequence of events paints a grim picture of what happened inside a facility where elderly residents are supposed to be safe.
Detectives said surveillance video from Feb. 14 showed someone entering the building through an exterior door around 5:05 a.m. Around ten minutes later, the person allegedly exited through the same door and disappeared off-frame while running. Roughly two and a half hours passed before emergency services arrived and found Fuller dead in his apartment.
As reported by The Daily Caller, the police released the surveillance footage on Feb. 20, six days after the killing. Then came another alarming detail: on Feb. 23, a facility employee allegedly discovered James inside the building during an overnight check, after his shift had ended at 11:00 p.m. James fled when confronted over it.
He was in custody within days. But the timeline raises an obvious question: how does someone allegedly commit a murder inside a senior living facility and remain employed there for more than a week afterward?
The details that have emerged since the arrest are striking. Police executed a pair of Baltimore County search warrants and allegedly found numerous wigs, according to Fox News Digital. The surveillance footage from Feb. 14 reportedly showed the suspect entering and exiting in what appeared to be a woman's wig.
Then there is the matter of the door. The exterior door's alarm sensor was allegedly last functional on Jan. 9. Video shows James used the same exterior doorway twice that day, according to WBFF. That means the alarm that was supposed to monitor access to a building full of vulnerable elderly residents had been non-functional for more than five weeks before Fuller was killed.
A broken alarm. A worker who knew the building's layout. An 87-year-old man was shot inside his own apartment before sunrise. The facts speak plainly enough.
Fuller was not just any resident. He was a philanthropist and lawyer from Maine, known for his contributions to Cony High School's Alumni Field complex, the Maine General Medical Center, and Kennebec Valley YMCA, among others. He spent decades building institutions and giving back to his community. He spent his final moments in a facility that was supposed to protect him.
Officials said they do not know why James allegedly killed Fuller, according to Fox News Digital. No motive has been publicly established. The absence of explanation makes the crime feel even more senseless.
James faces a wall of criminal charges. Prosecutors charged him with:
He told detectives he had worked the night before Fuller's death and had provided medicine to both Fuller and his roommate, WBFF reported. The man trusted with dispensing medication to elderly residents is now accused of executing one of them.
This case will inevitably fuel a conversation that too many families have already been forced to have: who, exactly, is watching over our parents and grandparents?
Senior living facilities charge substantial fees and promise safety, supervision, and dignity. Families entrust the most vulnerable people in their lives to these institutions. When a door alarm sits broken for five weeks, when a worker can allegedly re-enter a building after hours without immediate detection, the system has failed at its most basic function.
The criminal justice system will handle Marquise James. But the broader failure here extends beyond one defendant. Robert Fuller survived 87 years, built a legacy of generosity across an entire state, and died in a place that was supposed to keep him safe while someone ran into the dark.
