Murder trial for former UMES student changes locations

A murder case involving a former UMES student has been transferred to a Baltimore County court from circuit court in Somerset County, where Kevin Nixon was initially scheduled to stand trial this week, said Wess Garner, deputy state's attorney in Somerset.

"If you can't determine the location of a murder," then the location "the body was found will have jurisdiction or venue," Garner said Wednesday, Aug. 24. "Newly discovered evidence placed jurisdiction in Baltimore County, and we could no longer proceed."

The same evidence also transfers the case of murder suspect Elijah Carroll, a Baltimore man accused along with Nixon in the October 2015 murder of Baltimore stylist Damon Jennings whose body was found stabbed to death in a ditch alongside Backbone Road. The location of the body was near the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in Princess Anne where at the time Nixon was a senior.

Police believe Jennings was stabbed to death in Baltimore County and his body was transported more than 100 miles to Backbone in Somerset County. According to court records, Nixon, Carroll and a female suspect in the case, Jazzmine Morton of Baltimore, were with the 22-year-old Jennings on a Baltimore County roadway about Oct. 16, 2015 after the group reportedly had dined at a nearby restaurant. Jennings' body was found with multiple stab wounds some 10 days later alongside Backbone, about 5 miles northeast of the UMES campus.

BACKGROUND:Man charged as accessory in murder suspended from UMES

Garner said Wednesday that until new evidence surfaced, there was no proof the murder happened in Baltimore County. By law, legal proceedings are held in the jurisdiction a murder victim is found if there is no evidence determining the location of the killing, Garner said.

"I can't discuss the new evidence, but new evidence determines where the murder took place — in Baltimore County," he said. "Essentially, it couldn't be determined."

A Baltimore County court on May 5 also decided to not prosecute a third suspect in the case, Jazzmine Morton of Baltimore, who was charged with accessory after the fact to the Jennings murder. There is no indication in court records that her case, too, would be heard in Somerset. Her Baltimore County case remains open and active, according to court records.

According to court records, charges against Morton were not prosecuted.

Initially, the Gwynn Oak native was charged in Somerset with accessory after the fact of murder in connection with the death that happened around Oct. 25. Last week in Baltimore County, a court decided that a similar charge against Nixon would not be prosecuted.