Closing arguments were delivered Wednesday in the trial of Djbril Ramatoulay, 32, of Aberdeen, charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter in the April 23 death of Sebashton “Ashton” Nocar, of Bel Air, and the attempted first- and second-degree murder of Nocar’s friend, Cameron Waid.
The case was presented by the prosecution as a “boys’ night out” full of bad decisions that ended with a 19-year-old shot to death inside a Belcamp McDonald’s. The defense said Ramatoulay acted in self defense.
“There was a lot of bad decision-making,” assistant state’s attorney Trenna Manners said Wednesday during closing arguments.
She said Nocar and Waid engaged Ramatoulay in a fight in the McDonald’s bathroom with their other friends and later attemped to rob him of his bag and watch. “Not one of those decisions means [the boys] should have been shot to death,” she said.
Nocar was found on the floor of the McDonald’s on the 1300 block of Riverside Parkway, shot twice in the head at close range. Footage from the restaurant’s cameras captured the shooting. During closing arguments Manners placed still frames of the video showing Ramatoulay holding the gun to Nocar’s face on the courtroom’s overhead projector.
The gun used in the shooting was never recovered, and Manners reminded jurors of several shell casings and bullets found inside the McDonald’s and parking lot. The casing in the parking lot was 252 feet away from the McDonald’s and was allegedly dropped when Ramatoulay chased Waid after shooting Nocar.
“Justify that casing,” Manners said to the jury, arguing that if Ramatoulay believed his life was endangered by Waid, he would have had little justification to chase Waid into the parking lot and fire another shot at him.
Further, Manners said the fight before the shooting could not have been serious since there were no signs of a struggle in the McDonald’s bathroom on Nocar’s body or on Ramatoulay, as evidenced by photographs taken by detectives after his police interview.
Defense attorney John Janowich argued there was no evidence his client had the gun before he is seen with it on the surveillance footage. Instead, Janowich’s theory of the case was that Nocar or Waid brought the gun into the McDonald’s bathroom when they attempted to rob Ramatoulay, using it as a “reinforcement.”
Knowing who brought the gun and first took it out was at best a coin flip, Janowich said, which is far below the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard used in criminal law. Yet the sole witness with firsthand knowledge of what happened that night was Waid, whose testimony Janowich said was not sufficient to convict his client.
In support of his client’s belief that his life was in danger, Janowich told jurors Ramatoulay had soiled himself in the course of the robbery and shooting.
“Djbril wasn’t looking for trouble. Trouble found him,” Janowich said. He asked jurors to find that his client used complete self-defense, which would exonerate Ramatoulay.
Harford County Circuit Court Judge Kevin J. Mahoney sent the jury to the deliberation room Wednesday at about 2:30 p.m.
This story may be updated.
Have a news tip? Contact Racquel Bazos at rbazos@baltsun.com, 443-813-0770 or on X as @rzbworks.
Leave A Comment