Maurice Burd Jr., 41, of Horsham. (Credit: Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office)
A Hatboro business owner has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of a tenant after an alleged verbal assault using a racial slur, according to a press release issued Sunday by Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele and Hatboro Police Chief Mark Ruegg.
Maurice Anthony Byrd Jr., 41, of Applewood Court, Horsham, was charged with killing 37-year-old Stephen Strassburg of 226 N. York Road, Hatboro.
According to a press release issued Sunday, authoritries said that just before 6 p.m., Saturday, Hatboro police responded to Razor Reese’s Salon and Spa on North York Road. They arrived to find Strassburg in the business’s parking lot suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was transported to Abington Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
A joint investigation into the homicide by Montgomery County Detectives and Hatboro Police found that there was an ongoing dispute between the defendant and the victim, who lived above Razor Reese’s, which is owned by Byrd.
Byrd had called 911 at 5:45 p.m. to say that he was being verbally assaulted by Strassburg who was calling Byrd by a racial slur. While he was on the phone, the 911 dispatcher heard five gunshots, then a pause, followed by two additional gunshots, police said.
Seven 9mm fired cartridge casings were recovered at the scene, according to police. Police also recovered a 9mm Smith & Wesson semi-automatic handgun, which was registered to Byrd. Byrd has a valid permit to carry a firearm. Strassburg did not have a weapon at the time of the shooting, authorities said.
Byrd is charged with first-degree murder, third-degree murder and possessing an instrument of crime. He is awaiting arraignment at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility; at which time a preliminary hearing date will be scheduled. There is no bail available for first-degree murder charges.
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