A Baltimore judge sentenced 16-year-old Alex'xander Marasa to life in prison with all but 35 years suspended after he pleaded guilty to fatally shooting McDonald's security guard Jamal Davis Sr. during an attempt to seize Davis's service weapon in Park Heights. Davis was working the same shift as his own son at the time he was shot.
Judge Jeannie Hong handed down the sentence after Marasa pleaded guilty to felony first-degree murder, according to Baltimore Witness. Marasa also received 10 years for firearm use in a felony or violent crime, a sentence running concurrently with the murder charge, along with five years of probation on the murder count and no probation on the firearm count. He was originally charged with first-degree murder, robbery, and firearm use in a felony violent crime.
Court documents describe how Marasa grabbed Davis from behind and attempted to take his service duty weapon before shooting him in the chest; Davis then fell face down, and Marasa punched him three times, per the same account. Davis was pronounced dead about two hours after the incident. He worked security at the McDonald's on the 4000 block of Reisterstown Road.
A Shift Shared With His Son
Davis was working the same shift as his son on the January afternoon he was shot, according to WMAR-2 News. The shooting happened inside the McDonald's at 4401 Reisterstown Road near Cold Spring Lane, in Baltimore's Park Heights neighborhood, around 4:04 p.m., as reported by WBFF Fox 45. Police later responded to the location, where a physical altercation and shooting had occurred near the restaurant's entrance.
Marasa was 15 years old at the time of the January 2025 shooting and was prosecuted as an adult because of the severity of the charges, the outlet's report notes. Maryland law permits automatic adult court jurisdiction for juvenile suspects charged with first-degree murder. The case dragged on for more than a year and a half before the plea, and it was subsequently transferred between judges before trial.
Apology and Family Reaction in Court
During sentencing, Marasa apologized to Davis's family and said the shooting was an accident and a bad judgment call. Family members of the defendant described him as a great kid who associated with the wrong people, per Baltimore Witness's account of the hearing.
Judge Hong referred Marasa to the Patuxent Youth Program, a legislatively mandated, maximum-security treatment track for offenders sentenced under age 21 that provides intensive clinical psychotherapy, educational services, and behavioral remediation, according to the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. The program operates its own institutional board of review. Upon release, Marasa must register as a gun offender for three years; under Baltimore's Gun Offender Registration Act, individuals convicted of qualifying firearm offenses must register in person with the Baltimore Police Department within 48 hours of release and check in every six months for three years, as detailed by The Appeal. The ordinance was originally enacted in 2007 under former Mayor Sheila Dixon.
A Corridor With a Violent Pattern
The Reisterstown Road commercial corridor in Northwest Baltimore has seen persistent gun violence, including multiple non-fatal shootings documented during 2025 and 2026, Hoodline has previously reported. The corridor includes the Mondawmin area and other neighborhoods. It is a pattern that has repeatedly put commercial security workers in harm's way in the same stretch of the city where Davis was killed.
Marasa was 15 when the shooting occurred, and its consequences proved fatal.
The risks facing security personnel in commercial settings like fast-food restaurants remain a concern. Following the fatal shooting, McDonald's franchise owner Danitra Bell brought grief counselors and additional security to the restaurant to support traumatized staff and customers, and local ministers and police chaplains held community outreach sessions at the location, per WMAR-2 News.
