State v. Jahad Karim Frierson, C-08-CR-21-000327
LA PLATA, MD—Tony Covington, State’s Attorney for Charles County, announced that on Thursday, February 6, 2025, Charles County Circuit Court Judge Donine Carrington Martin sentenced Jahad Karim Frierson, 27, of Waldorf, to 35 years in prison for the Second-Degree Murder of Leon Nathaniel Inabinett, Jr. Frierson was also sentenced to a consecutive 1,067 days in prison for violating the probation of an unrelated incident.
On December 3, 2024, a Charles County jury convicted Frierson of the above-mentioned charge.
On June 20, 2021, officers responded to the Bryans Road Firehouse in the 3000 block of Livingston Road in Bryans Road. Upon arrival, officers discovered victim Inabinett suffering from multiple gunshot wounds in a hallway inside the firehouse. The victim was transported to a local hospital but, unfortunately, was pronounced deceased as a result of his injuries.
An investigation revealed that the victim attended a birthday party at the firehouse before the incident. Frierson had an issue with the victim due to a prior incident. After learning the victim’s location, Frierson contacted co-defendant Ryan Lamont Bell to help confront the victim. Frierson and Bell rode to the firehouse together and hid in bushes waiting for the victim to come out. At the end of the party, the victim was carrying a tray of cookies to put in a vehicle in the rear parking lot. Frierson and Bell approached the victim while he was outside. Frierson brandished a handgun given to him by Bell, struck the victim and then shot him several times. After the shooting was over, both Frierson and Bell fled in the same vehicle. The victim was able to make it inside the firehouse to try to get help but collapsed in the hallway.
An ankle monitor that Bell was wearing for a separate incident indicated that Bell’s location was at the firehouse at the time of the murder. Cell phone records also place Bell and Frierson in the area at the time of the murder. Surveillance video depicts the two confronting the victim and running away.
The handgun used to kill the victim was located in Bell’s vehicle. Bell reported to investigators that he took the gun after the murder and cleaned it.
On November 14, 2022, Bell entered a guilty plea for Conspiracy to Commit First-Degree Murder and Use of a Firearm During the Commission of a Crime of Violence. On December 19, 2024, he was sentenced to 35 years in prison.
During the sentencing for Frierson, Assistant State’s Attorney Constance Kopelman asked the judge for the maximum sentence of 40 years, stating that Frierson “needs to be prevented from committing any other act like this for as long as possible. He didn’t care that he was on probation when he committed this murder.” She furthered, “The facts are just so brutal. Leon did not see this coming. The defendant ambushed him, and Leon had nothing to protect himself with. He was carrying cookies.” She told the judge that Leon’s future and potential was “all extinguished by the defendant. The defendant destroyed the victim’s right to the life he chose. In a society, we cannot tolerate this senseless gun violence. The defendant showed no mercy, no humanity. It is senseless. It is not okay, and it needs to be punished.”