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Bail denied for man charged with killing his father

Father's visit ends in gunfire in Cockeysville
Posted at 6:42 PM, Nov 19, 2018
and last updated 2018-11-19 18:47:21-05

With Thanksgiving less than a week away, police say 63-year-old William Leonard Howard, Senior left his Randallstown home to visit his son, William, Junior who lived with another family member in a home off of Cuba Road in Cockeysville.

RELATED: Father killed after an argument with his son

“The son lived in the home of another relative.  So it wasn't his home.  It was a relative's home.  He lived there with them,” said Ofc. Jennifer Peach of the Baltimore County Police Department, “The father was there visiting his son and that's when they got into a verbal argument and that escalated into a physical altercation between the two of them.”

Police say the confrontation escalated when the son then headed down to the basement.

“The father then followed the son down to the basement, and once he got downstairs, the son shot the father multiple times,” said Peach.

According to charging documents, a witness inside the home heard gunfire and observed William Howard, Junior exiting the basement carrying a pistol.

Howard then fled the scene in his truck, and the witness found the elder Howard suffering from gunshot wounds and call 911.

By the time medics arrived, the victim had gone into cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead at the scene.

“People have asked us if he knew that he had killed his father before he fled,” said Peach, “We're unable to confirm whether or not he did, but it's doubtful.”

Court records suggest when police arrived on the scene, a family member called the suspect and put him on speaker phone when he admitted to shooting his father.

Four hours after the shooting, William Leonard Howard, Junior turned himself into police at the Cockeysville precinct.

Howard is being held tonight at the Baltimore County Detention Center with no bail.