Reisterstown Man Guilty Of First-Degree Murder After Bar Fight

TOWSON, MD — A grand jury found a Reisterstown man guilty of murder this week, according to prosecutors, who said he slit a man's throat at a bar in Essex in summer 2020.

Shawn A. Parks, 33, of Reisterstown, will be sentenced in December.

A jury found Parks guilty of first-degree premeditated murder in a stabbing that occurred Aug. 30, 2020.

Police said the victim — Roger Paul Walker Jr., 25 — had been stabbed multiple times in his chest, back and forearm, and his throat had been slit. He died from his wounds, prosecutors said.

Investigators determined Parks and Walker had been involved in a dispute at Brewers Landing Bar and Grill in the 800 block of Woodrow Avenue in Essex earlier that night. Both had been drinking, prosecutors said.

When Parks left the bar, he headed toward Walker, got out a knife and attacked him, according to prosecutors, who said video surveillance and witness statements corroborated that.

State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger called it a “senseless and completely unjustifiable act of violence.”

Judge Vicki Ballou-Watts will sentence Parks in Baltimore County Circuit Court on Dec. 3.

Related: Bar Fight Leads To Murder Charge For Reisterstown Man: Police