Target Killer Enters Guilty Plea
The man who gunned down his ex-girlfriend in the parking lot of the Target store in Germantown last June has pled guilty to first-degree murder in connection with the killing.
According to multiple news reports, Donald Wayne Bricker Jr. entered a guilty plea in Montgomery County Circuit Court in front of Judge Joseph Dugan and admitted to the June 2015 killing of 24-year-old Mariam Folashade “Shade” Adebayo.
Bricker admitted to shooting Adebayo in the parking lot in a video-taped confession, according to reports.
Bricker, 27 of Hagerstown, faces life in prison with no opportunity for parole. According to reports, no deal has been promised to Bricker in return for his plea.
Multiple witnesses at the scene observed an altercation in a vehicle between Adebayo and Bricker, according to police. Witnesses stated that at some point during the altercation, Adebayo exited the vehicle to get away from Bricker. The suspect then exited the vehicle holding a handgun. Bricker fired the gun in the direction of Adebayo and she fell to the ground. Bricker was then observed walking up to Adebayo and shooting her again. Bricker then fled from the scene in a white, older model, Ford Ranger pickup truck.
The gun Bricker used to kill Adebayo was an antique model handgun which Bricker had purchased through the mail.
At Bricker’s bail hearing in June, Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Deborah W. Feinstein said that because Bricker, a convicted sex offender and could not legally purchase a firearm, he used a loophole in the law to order a replica antique “black powder” gun online and had it delivered through the mail. The purchase of antique firearms and replicas of antique guns is not regulated. Bricker had previously purchased 100 rounds of ammunition for the antique firearm and practiced firing it at least once before going to meet Adebayo in the parking lot, said Feinstein, in June.
After the shooting, Bricker led police on a high-speed chase on the rural roads in far western Montgomery County, according to police reports heard over a police scanner. In Dickerson, the suspect began heading south on Rt. 28 with officers in pursuit. Pursuing officers communicated over the radio that the suspect reached speeds of 80- or 90-miles per hour as he sped eastbound on Rt. 28 before crashing.
Bricker was apprehended after his vehicle was involved in a single-vehicle collision between Black Rock Road and Whites Ferry Road.
Bricker is a registered sex offender after a 2008 conviction for Sexual Offense in the Third Degree in Washington County, which means sexual contact without the consent of the victim, along with an aggravating factor, like causing or putting in fear of serious physical injury. A Third Degree Sexual Offense also includes sexual contact with mentally disabled victim or victim under age 14 with the perpetrator being four years older, or a sexual act with victim 14- or 15-years old.
