Columbia Man Found Guilty in Bail Bondswoman's Murder

Dominique Davon McDonald was found guilty by a Howard County jury of second-degree murder for shooting Nicole Bernadette McNair, 42, who was killed by a single gunshot wound to the chest in a Columbia parking lot in September of 2011.

McDonald, 23, closed his eyes upon hearing the verdict, while the victim's daughter sobbed quietly in the courtroom, according to Wayne Kirwan, spokesperson for the Howard County state's attorney's office.

McDonald faces up to 55 years in prison for the murder charge and two additional gun charges he was found guilty of, according to Kirwan.

During closing arguments on Wednesday prosecutors repeatedly reminded jurors of the scientific and forensic evidence linking McDonald to the crime.

"There is a trail of evidence," said assistant state's attorney Claude de Vastey-Jones.

De Vastey-Jones listed each piece of evidence one after the other. There was the shell casing that scientists matched with the .40 caliber Smith and Wesson handgun found in the sprinkler room in the 8800 block of Tamar Drive where McDonald was hiding after the shooting. 

According to de Vastey-Jones, there was DNA that matched McDonald's on the gun handle and on the back of a phone that was found on a pathway near the scene of the shooting. The back of the phone matched the phone found on McDonald at the time of his arrest a day after the shooting. It was missing its back, said de Vastey-Jones.

At the time McDonald was not allowed to possess a handgun due to a prior felony conviction, according to de Vastey-Jones.

But defense attorney Samuel Truette dismissed the evidence and instead focused on the victim's son. Truette told the court that Nicole McNair's 24-year-old son was there 10 to 15 minutes after the shooting. 

Truette posited in his closing arguments that McNair's son knew when he arrived at the scene what had already happened. "He knew" repeated Truette, multiple times.

"He knew before anyone else did that Nicole McNair had been shot and killed," said Truette.

Truette said McDonald had paid McNair $350 before the shooting for part of the bail money he owed her from a previous case.

"Why shoot her?" asked Truette. "Everyone knows you need your bail bondsmen."

At one point, Truette said "I'm suggesting [McNair's son] shot his mother."

Prosecutor Ned Curry, in his rebuttal of the defense, passionately told the jury to focus on the evidence, not what he called the defense's speculation.

"In the face of all this evidence... they want you to say that this young man killed his own mother?" asked Curry.

Curry called the defense's arguments "smoke-filled coffee house conjecture."

"I don't know why Dominique McDonald murdered Nicole McNair," said Curry. "I think it was because he owed her money. But that doesn't change the fact he shot her in the chest."

The closing arguments in the case ended around 11 a.m. on Wednesday. The jury reached a verdict at 5:45 p.m., according to Kirwan. 

McDonald is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 19.

Related Articles

• Police Charge Man in Long Reach Shooting Death of Bail Bondswoman
• Prosecutor Says Forensic Evidence Links Suspect to Murder of Bail Bondswoman in Columbia

Correction: The orginal version of this article stated Andrew Northrup delivered the closing argument. In fact it was Samuel Truette. The article has been corrected, we regret the error