Prince George’s Co. man charged with murder of elderly man

A man charged with assaulting an elderly man in Prince George’s County, Maryland, was charged with murder on Thursday.

Julias Wright, 25, of Fort Washington, was initially charged with first- and second-degree assault along with reckless endangerment of Johnny Lee Shepard, 87, of Beltsville, who died from his injuries on July 28.

The medical examiner determined Shepard’s cause of death was a result of blunt force head trauma, and his death was ruled a homicide.



According to Prince George’s County police, officers were informed about an assault in a residential parking lot in the 11300 block of Cherry Hill Road on June 2 at around 7:30 p.m.

In their initial investigation, police revealed Christina Felder, 44, of Beltsville, accused Shepard of damaging her car door in the parking lot. Then, she called Wright, who is in a relationship with her.

A surveillance video showed Wright punching and stomping Shepard numerous times.

Wright and Felder were charged with first- and second-degree assault as well as the solicitation of assault in the second degree after police arrested them inside a hotel in Howard County.

Tadiwos Abedje

Tadi Abedje is a freelance digital writer/editor for WTOP. He was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Northern Virginia. Journalism has been his No. 1 passion since he was a kid and he is blessed to be around people, telling their stories and sharing them with the world.

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