An 18-year-old was arrested Monday on charges accusing him of what a Baltimore County prosecutor described as the “cold-blooded murder” of a couple in the presence of two young children this January at a Woodlawn apartment.
Markie Jerome Cole, of Southwest Baltimore’s Allendale neighborhood, faces two counts of first-degree murder in connection to the Jan. 11 deaths of Angel Price, 23, and Daryle Carter, 18, who were found dead on the kitchen floor of the apartment. District Judge Krystin J. Richardson ruled Tuesday for Cole to remain held without bail.
Baltimore County Police officers had responded to the residence on Aurora Lane after one of the victims’ parents hadn’t heard from the couple and made a report, Baltimore County Assistant State’s Attorney Emily Abell said at Cole’s bail review on Tuesday.
Price and Carter were found dead in the apartment. Two young children were also found, unharmed, police said.
Abell said that Cole was identified as a suspect through surveillance footage that showed him entering the residence with Price and Carter and later fleeing in one of the victims’ cars. The car was found about a quarter of a mile from Cole’s residence, and photos on a victim’s phone showed Cole wearing the same clothing as the person on the footage, Abell said.
When questioned by police, Cole acknowledged he knew the victims, but said that they “were DoorDashing” that night and denied involvement in their deaths, Abell said.
Abell said that Cole had a “violent criminal history,” including charges when he was a juvenile, and asked for him to be held without bail. She called the killing a “violent execution.”
Carly Merrill, a public defender representing Cole at Tuesday’s hearing, had spoken with her client after his arrest and the two had decided to waive Tuesday’s bail hearing, though Cole changed his mind when his name was called.
“Let’s go forward,” Cole said via a video stream from the Baltimore County Detention Center, after both Merrill and Richardson advised him of his rights and asked him if the hearing should proceed.
Merrill asked Richardson to release Cole on home detention, noting that her client was “young” and presumed to be innocent.
Richardson said that the allegations were “extremely concerning,” noting that the alleged killing took place “in the presence of two juvenile children.”
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