WASHINGTON — The man accused of shooting a Kentucky teacher to death outside Catholic University last week pleaded not guilty in court on Wednesday.
Maxwell Emerson, 25, was in D.C. to attend a professional development seminar.
Emerson was staying on the Trinity Washington University campus with colleagues, according to his family. He arrived in the District July 1. He was killed the morning of July 5. By Friday, police released pictures of the suspect.
On Tuesday, 22-year-old Jaime Macedo was arrested. He was seen walking just steps from D.C. Police Headquarters in Judiciary Square Tuesday. Police issued a search warrant for a residence in Northeast where he was renting a room. Inside, they found a cellphone and an ankle monitored that had been tampered with and cut.
Initially, police believed the suspect and victim knew each other because they were walking together. During Wednesday’s court appearance, we learned why.
According to court documents, the whole ordeal lasted about 30 minutes. The suspect approached the victim at the Catholic University Metro stop.
Surveillance pictures show the victim gave the suspect money, but a short time later, the suspect is shown walking behind the victim on Michigan Avenue where he pulled out a gun.
The two walked to campus and at 7:57 a.m.
The victim sent a frantic Snapchat message to his twin brother in Kentucky writing: "Help. Bring ribbed. At cub point."
According to court documents, surveillance video shows the victim sitting on the park bench nervously emptying out his backpack as the suspect stands over him. The two are later seen struggling and falling to the ground. The victim then gets up and attempts to run and that’s when police say the suspect shot him in the stomach.
But Macedo’s defense attorney said police have the wrong man and that another man with the same address was involved. But witnesses, who prosecutors said were familiar with Macedo, place him at the scene. Police say they also discovered his DNA on a black ski mask left behind.
Macedo was arrested in 2019 for carrying an illegal gun. He received a one-year suspended sentence and 15 months of probation. In 2020, he violated his probation and served six months behind bars.
WUSA9’s sister station in Louisville, WHAS, interviewed the victim’s parents.
Standing outside the Kentucky high school where their son taught social studies, Chandra and Steve Emerson recall a late-night phone call from a D.C. detective saying their son's alleged killer was behind bars.
"I felt an immediate relief just that he was found and taken off the streets, and not just selfishly for us, but he was putting his community in danger as well,” said Steve Emerson.
The parents said they are learning to live by Max’s mantra: You just got to find a way.
“Trying to do things as they come at us, grieve when it hits us, and not feel guilty when we love on each other – a smile may come across our face for something that we remember and not feel guilty about it and know that's what he would want," said Steve Emerson.
According to court documents, the victim’s backpack, iPhone, and wallet were still on the scene when police arrived.
Macedo will remain behind bars. He is back in court July 20.