An Aberdeen man accused of fatally shooting his wife's one-time boyfriend in Perryman last week was formally charged with murder Monday but remained in the hospital in police custody.
James Allean Ashford, 38, of the 600 block of North Paradise Road, is charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, first-degree assault, second-degree assault, using a firearm in a violent crime and having a handgun on his person, according to online court records.
Ashford allegedly fatally shot a man at the Busby Trailer Park, on Busby Drive, at about 8:06 a.m. Aug. 25, according to charging documents.
The victim, a Street resident identified as Joshua Walter, 28, was found slumped over in a vehicle that allegedly struck Ashford, according to charging documents and the Harford County Sheriff's Office.
Sheriff's Office deputies originally responded to a report of a pedestrian struck. Ashford told them he was run over by a vehicle and his hip may be broken, according to the charging documents.
Deputies then found Walter, the only person inside the car, had been shot in the chest, according to the charging documents. He was pronounced dead a short time later at University of Maryland Harford Memorial Hospital in Havre de Grace.
Detectives learned Ashford was separated from his wife and she began a relationship with Walter, which was supposedly broken off recently after Ashford and his wife reconciled, according to the statement of charges.
Ashford also allegedly threatened Walter with the gun in the past, according to the statement of charges.
The 11-year-old son of Ashford's wife had witnessed the incident between Ashford and Walter, and he was also taken to be interviewed, according to the statement of charges.
The Sheriff's Office said it obtained a warrant for Ashford the day of the shooting.
Ashford remains hospitalized at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore for his injuries but he is in the custody of the Harford County Detention Center, Sheriff's Office spokesperson Cristie Kahler said.
According to court records, Ashford is being held on no bond.