Police in Baltimore County have a woman in custody in connection with the murder of a young man last week in a parking lot in Catonsville.
Brandon Ward graduated from Milford Mill Academy in 2013.
He performed for the school's marching band – including several trips to NFL halftime shows.
“We both spent a lot of time traveling and we did everything together. I went on every band trip; I didn't miss one,” said his mother, Maria Ward. “Even when he told me I couldn't go I went anyway.”
Brandon was also an excellent bowler; and he had the ribbons and trophies to prove it.
“We had a good time. We had a real good time,” she said, adding that someday he hoped to earn a civil engineering degree, and become an architect.
See also: Dispute at Applebee's carried over to deadly shooting
For now, Brandon was a cook at the Applebee's restaurant on Baltimore National Pike in Catonsville.
Friday night, police say 21-year old Tatiana Bowie had gotten into an argument with another employee of the restaurant.
When Ward's shift ended, he and some friends drove across the road to another shopping center.
Police say Bowie showed up, confronted the woman she'd argued with earlier, and grabbed one of Ward's female co-workers around the neck.
When he and others tried to pull them apart, police say as many as six gunshots rang out, and Bowie was seen holding a gun.
A bullet struck Ward in the back; he died at the hospital.
“I just think he was trying to help a friend. And it's a shame kids get caught up being there for everybody else,” Maria Ward said.
She says the memories of her son, and her faith have kept her going.
“The bible is my strength right now,” she said.
And she says her faith drives her to believe that now her son is waiting for her, and eventually she will see him again.
“There's a resurrection coming. I believe it. Everybody doesn't but I believe it. And that's what keeps me strong today. That's what keeps me from crying at night,” she said.
Tatiana Bowie is being held without bail on a charge of first degree murder.
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