A Rockville, Maryland, man has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in connection with a stabbing last week at Lakeforest Mall, Montgomery County police announced Monday.
Jose Alexander Maldonado, 23, was stabbed and killed inside the Gaithersburg mall on Feb. 21. Police said Trenton Flowers-Jackson, 25, entered the T-Mobile store where Maldonado worked as a salesperson and immediately began to stab him.
Maldonado tried to escape but collapsed near the food court in the mall. He was taken to the hospital with multiple stab wounds on his face, ear, stomach, shoulder and back, and later died of his injuries.
Montgomery County police said Flowers-Jackson and Maldonado knew each other.
Flowers-Jackson was arrested Feb. 26 and has been charged with first-degree murder. On Monday, the Montgomery County Public Defender’s Office waived the bond hearing for Flowers-Jackson, so he will continue to be held without bond. It also requested a mental health evaluation.
According to court documents, Flowers-Jackson’s mother contacted Montgomery County police on Jan. 12 and told them her son “has been showing signs of psychosis, hearing voices and believes he is outside of his body and having delusions.”
When police officers talked to him, Flowers-Jackson told them he was fine and did not need help, documents say.
On Feb. 22, Flowers-Jackson contacted Montgomery County Police and told the responding officer that “somebody has been stalking my computer” and “my phone is being redirected,” according to court documents.
The documents also say that the day before Maldonado’s murder, Flowers-Jackson walked into the T-Mobile store and asked a salesperson if she worked alone. Maldonado had just left a few minutes earlier. Detectives say Flowers-Jackson then left and returned the next day.
