Second Man Charged in Killing of Music Engineer

Fifteen months after a well-known music engineer was fatally shot by men who were using a tow truck to steal his car from outside his home in Lake Arbor, Prince George's County police say they have caught the gunman.

A police spokesman said yesterday that Jamaal G. Alexis, 21, of Capitol Heights was arrested and charged Tuesday with the October 2006 slaying of Raymond Brown, known by many in the music industry by his professional name, Scottie Beats.

The first-degree murder charge against Alexis follows the April 10 arrest of Neiman M. Edmonds, 20, of Upper Marlboro, who was charged with second-degree murder in the case. Cpl. Stephen Pacheco, a police spokesman, said Alexis is thought to have shot Brown.

Pacheco said the case is still under investigation. He declined to clarify the relationship between the two suspects, other than to say they are acquaintances. He also declined to say how they had gained access to the tow truck or whether they were being charged with vehicle theft.

Law enforcement sources familiar with the case said investigators think that the assailants stole the truck from a county tow operator hours before the shooting and that at least five men were involved. The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation, said officials have a lead on at least one other suspect.

Danielle Steele Brown said she was relieved by the arrest after spending "a lot of agonizing, painful, lonely, devastating, sleepless nights" reliving her husband's shooting, which unfolded as she stood a short distance away.

"I loved my husband very much," she said yesterday. "It is a huge, huge weight off of my shoulders that this man is in custody."

The shooting shocked many in the quiet, middle-class neighborhood where Brown, 36, lived. The handling of a 911 call from Brown led to three emergency communications workers being placed on administrative leave. An investigation revealed that they had apparently treated the incident as a repossession and not followed procedure.

The incident began Oct. 13, 2006, when Brown saw men in a tow truck attempting to steal his Chrysler 300. Brown called 911 to report that his car was being towed, but dispatchers told him to call back later.

Pacheco said Brown went outside and followed the truck in another vehicle. Steele Brown said they had gone to the entrance of a complex to find information about any tow companies operating in the neighborhood.

Steele Brown said they saw the tow truck stopped near the entrance at the 11000 block of Southlake Drive, a few hundred yards from Brown's home in the 600 block of Stillwater Place.

"There was a man standing outside," Steele Brown said. "We had no idea there was anyone in the truck. We thought the person outside was the tow truck driver. [Brown] approached him, he got out of the passenger side and approached him, and asked him, 'Why are you towing my car?' Before he could complete his question, that's when the gunfire came from the tow truck."

Brown, shot in the chest, crumpled to the ground. The suspects fled. Brown was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Pacheco said Alexis was the driver of the tow truck and Edmonds was in a second vehicle.

Alexis has no record of criminal convictions in Maryland, according to a state database. Edmonds was indicted on an auto theft charge in January 2006; the charge was dropped .