A 22-year-old man was found shot dead in his car in Northeast Baltimore, and Baltimore Police said they arrested his roommate on murder charges Friday.
Police wrote in charging papers that family members reported Jeffrey Brooks Jr. missing Thursday and told detectives that Brooks had been in a physical altercation with his roommate the night before. The family members later told officers they saw blood on the floor of the apartment and the roommate leaving with a wet vacuum.
Police stopped Brooks’ 24-year-old roommate while he was driving in East Baltimore on Friday and brought him into the homicide unit for questioning, according to charging papers.
When detectives interviewed Brooks’ roommate, he said he had shot Brooks during the Wednesday altercation, which he said was over money he owed to Brooks. He said he shot Brooks when the 22-year-old approached him with a knife “in a manner that he felt Mr. Brooks was going to stab him,” police wrote. The roommate also told investigators the location of Brooks’ remains, charging papers say.
Friday night at about 10:45 p.m. police found Brooks’ body in his vehicle, which was parked at a gas station in the 6800 block of Harford Road in the North Harford Road neighborhood. Brooks’ body had suffered a gunshot wound to the head, police wrote.
The roommate has been charged with first- and second-degree murder, as well as assault and firearms offenses, and is currently detained at Central Booking awaiting a court hearing.
“Had it not been for the active participation and cooperation of the Brooks’ family, this case would not have been solved, Jeffrey Brooks, Jr. would still be missing, and his killer would still be at large,” police spokesperson James Moses said in a news release.