Courts. (Credit: Flickr/Creative Commons)
A jury of six men and six women will determine the fate of Maurice Anthony Byrd, Jr., 42, owner of Razor Reese’s Salon and Spa, who faces charges of first- and third-degree murder and possessing an instrument of crime in connection with gunshot slaying of Stephen Strassburg, 37, according to a news report.
The incident took place on June 8, 2024, outside of a residential and business property in the 200 block of North York Road in Hatboro, according to an article.
A jury was seated after several hours on Monday in Montgomery County Court for the trial of the Hatboro businessman who is accused of fatally shooting an unarmed man during a physical altercation after the victim allegedly insulted him with a racial slur outside the business.
Judge Risa Vetri Ferman will preside over the trial that is expected to last about a week.
Assistant District Attorney Samantha L.R. Cauffman and co-prosecutor Hannah Victor are handling the case.
Byrd remains in the county jail without bail pending his trial.
Strassburg was a tenant at the North York Road property and lived on the second floor above Byrd’s business, Razor Reese’s Salon and Spa. Byrd rented the first-floor space there for his barber shop.
A conviction of first-degree murder, which is an intentional killing, carries a mandatory life prison sentence. A conviction of third-degree murder, a killing committed with malice, cruelty, hardness of heart or recklessness of consequences, carries a possible maximum sentence of 20 to 40 years in prison.
According to the criminal complaint filed by county Detective Heather Long and Hatboro Detective Sergeant Conner Dilks, Hatboro police responded to a report of a disturbance at the salon after Byrd called 911 to report he was being “verbally assaulted” by a white man who called him a racial slur.
During the 911 call, Strassburg could be heard saying “what are you going to do, you going to shoot me” while using the racial epithet, according to the arrest affidavit. Immediately after, seven gunshots could be heard, according to the criminal complaint.
Read the full article here.
