Documents show suspect stalked Baltimore couple at Fells Point market before deadly attack
New details emerged on Friday about the suspect in this week's attack on a couple in Baltimore's Fells Point neighborhood that left a 76-year-old woman dead and her husband injured.
Claudia Bismark died of her injuries on Thursday. Her husband, 60-year-old Wade Wilson, was hospitalized after the assault and robbery on Tuesday morning. The attack was caught on video.
On Thursday, police announced they had arrested 32-year-old Montray McCray for the crime and upgraded the initial charges against him to include homicide. McCray was due to make his initial court appearance on Friday.
What we know about the suspect
Police said they tracked McCray down and arrested him on South Carrollton Avenue. He is charged with assault, robbery, reckless endangerment and homicide.
WJZ Investigates learned that McCray has an arrest history that dates back more than a decade and includes past gun and drug charges.
New details about the suspect emerged on Friday.
Charging documents obtained by WJZ Investigates show that before the attack, McCray caused a disturbance at Beans and Bread -- a community resource center on South Bond Street. He allegedly argued with security before he was asked to leave.
From there, the suspect went to Vikki's Fells Point Deli, at Broadway Market, where the couple was eating breakfast, according to the charging documents. The suspect then sat at the back of the restaurant, watched the couple and waited for them to leave.
When the victims exited through the front of the market, McCray left through the back and then followed the couple, the charging documents said.
"Video of the assault shows McCray approach the victims from behind ... " the documents said.
Both victims were knocked to the ground in the attack, in which McCray went through Wilson's pockets, took his wallet and then fled, according to the charging documents. The video footage also shows Bismark being hit in the face while she was still on the ground. Police reported the wallet was missing $150.
Court records show that McCray worked as a barber and lived near where he was arrested. Documents also state that he is a lifetime registered sex offender.
Who was Claudia Bismark?
Friends of the couple told WJZ Investigates they are heartbroken.
"It ain't gonna bring Claudia back," Vikki's waitress Tammy Lang told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren of the arrest. "She was such a sweetheart. She would do anything for anybody. She's an artist—a very good artist. It's sad. The world's going to miss her."
But Lang and the couple's friend Keya Little were happy there was an arrest.
"I am overly ecstatic," Little said. "I don't know if it was my prayers or my cries asking people yesterday if they know something to say something—but they got him. Hashtag got him."
Lang told WJZ, "I can finally sleep tonight that they finally got him. They didn't deserve that. They were the best people you'd ever want to meet. If he would have said something to Wade or Claudia, they would have given it to them—no questions asked."
Fells Point residents urged to be vigilant
Speaking about the attack, Fells Point resident Rolf Taylor said, "It's jarring because it's crazy here on the weekends. I don't go out after 10 p.m. But this was first thing this morning, so that is a little scary and I think a bit unusual. Usually when there's trouble here, it's late at night."
Taylor said the robbery happened about 50 yards from his Fells Point home. He said during the eight years he has lived on the block, he has not seen or heard about violent crime in the area.
"I'm really amazed because despite the reputation, in all the eight years I've been living here on this block, I have not seen crime," Taylor said. "I have not seen anything that I would really consider dangerous."
