Jury weighing fate of Hatboro businessman accused of killing neighbor

NORRISTOWN — The fate of a Hatboro businessman accused of fatally shooting an unarmed man during a physical altercation on a parking lot outside his business after the victim insulted him with a racial slur is in the hands of a jury.

Maurice Anthony Byrd Jr., 42, appeared calm as the jurors, six men and six women, were handed the case late Thursday afternoon after they heard the closing arguments of the lawyers and received legal instructions from Montgomery County Judge Risa Vetri Ferman. The jury began deliberations at 2:17 p.m.

Byrd, of the unit block of Applewood Court, faces charges of first- and third-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter and possessing an instrument of crime in connection with the June 8, 2024, gunshot slaying of Stephen Strassburg outside of a residential and business property in the 200 block of North York Road in Hatboro.

Strassburg, 37, 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.

Assistant District Attorney Samantha L.R. Cauffman argued for a conviction of first-degree murder, which is an intentional killing.  Cauffman argued that Byrd intended to kill when he fired seven gunshots at Strassburg, two of which struck the victim in the face and back and the bullets traveled into his neck and brain.

“This was a verbal argument and he pulled a gun and shot him.  He pulled the trigger seven times,” Cauffman argued during her closing statement to the jury, referring to Byrd. “Stephen was unarmed.”

Cauffman argued that Byrd left the safety of his barber shop, even after he reported the confrontation to police and a 911 operator advised him to separate himself from Strassburg. Byrd could have remained inside his shop and locked the doors, Cauffman maintained.

“He had so many options to remain safe. He stepped out of a safe place and went toward what he saw as a threat. He continued this encounter and escalated it by pulling a gun. He wanted to kill Stephen,” Cauffman said about the altercation that stemmed from a longstanding feud between the men.

Cauffman, who handled the case with co-prosecutor Hannah Victor, conceded that Strassburg didn’t hide his dislike for Byrd and did repeatedly insult Byrd with racial slurs. But Cauffman argued that while jurors won’t like the things Strassburg said to Byrd, they should not let those words distract them from Byrd’s actions.

“It is a horrible word. But it is a word and you can’t kill someone over a word,” Cauffman argued.

Byrd is Black and Strassburg was white.

But defense lawyer Joseph Todd Schultz, the chief homicide lawyer for the county Public Defender’s Office, argued Byrd acted in self-defense under a reasonable fear that he would be harmed when Strassburg charged at him with fists waving and the pair struggled over the gun.

“It’s all provocation by Stephen Strassburg. He’s seeing red. He’s drunk. He’s going to take all his racist anger out on this man (Byrd). He’s completely unhinged and he’s going for that gun,” Schultz argued during his closing statement to the jury, referring to Strassburg. “His words are hateful. His body language is aggressive. He’s out of his mind. It’s a threat and nothing short of it.”

Schultz and co-defense lawyer Scott Frank Frame characterized Strassburg as “an angry, drunk, racist maniac,” who engaged in hate speech, including using “the N-word” to insult Byrd.

“It’s a word that invokes hatred, slavery and lynching. It is the worst thing,” Schultz argued.

Schultz said Byrd was an Army veteran who was injured during a tour in Iraq, was honorably discharged and as a businessman had every right to legally carry a firearm for his protection.

“He’s smaller and he’s injured. He is not a physical match for Stephen Strassburg,” Schultz argued.

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.

A person commits voluntary manslaughter if, at the time of the killing, he is acting under a sudden and intense passion resulting from serious provocation or with an unreasonable belief that the killing was justified. Voluntary manslaughter is punishable by a maximum sentence of 10 to 20 years in prison.

The investigation began about 5:45 p.m. June 8, when 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, according to the criminal complaint filed by county Detective Heather Long and Hatboro Detective Sergeant Conner Dilks.

During the 2-minute and 49-second 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. There was an initial burst of five gunshots, a brief pause and then two additional gunshots,” Long and Dilks alleged in the criminal complaint.

Byrd, according to the 911 call that was played for the jury, stated, “I just had to shoot him. He came after me. He’s down. He’s down.” The dispatcher asked, “Did you hit him?” to which Byrd allegedly responded, “Yes I did.”

Detectives collected surveillance video and audio from inside the barber shop and from other nearby businesses that captured some of the events before the shooting occurred, before Byrd called 911 and as the gunshots rang out.

The evidence depicted Byrd at the front door of his business telling someone who was off camera but who authorities alleged is Strassburg to come inside. Byrd allegedly could be heard uttering to himself from inside his shop, “I’m a shoot at you,” according to the video and audio footage.

Strassburg did not enter the barber shop. But Strassburg, appearing agitated, was depicted pacing back and forth outside the barber shop or peering through a window of the shop.

Byrd then allegedly called 911 to report he was being “verbally assaulted.” Despite being told by the 911 dispatcher to stay separated from the victim and that police were on the way, Byrd went outside his shop where he interacted with Strassburg and fired the gunshots, prosecutors alleged.

First responders found Strassburg lying in the parking lot area outside the business, suffering from several gunshot wounds and he was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Detectives who processed the scene recovered seven 9mm cartridge casings and a 9mm semiautomatic Smith & Wesson handgun for which Byrd had a valid permit to carry. Strassburg did not have a weapon at the time of the shooting.

During the investigation, detectives learned about ongoing disputes between Byrd and Strassburg. Since December 2022, Hatboro police responded to the North York Road address on three occasions to investigate verbal disputes between the men, according to the arrest affidavit.

Each of the disputes was verbal in nature and ended with warnings from Hatboro police to avoid contact with each other.