Video from the bus and records tied to a fare pass helped police identify James Richburg before his murder conviction and sentencing.
BALTIMORE, Md. — The camera system and fare records of Baltimore’s transit network became central evidence in a murder case that ended with James Richburg receiving a 70-year prison sentence for killing fellow passenger William Womack aboard an MTA bus.
Investigators began with surveillance video showing the Nov. 30, 2024, confrontation, preserved footage from the bus and circulated a still image of the suspected gunman. They then examined the transit pass used by the man who had boarded the vehicle. By Dec. 2, detectives had obtained MTA records showing the same pass was used on other days, according to the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office. Investigators collected video corresponding with those uses and saw a man resembling Richburg. That evidence helped authorities identify him before police found him nine days after the killing — again riding an MTA bus.
The digital trail became one layer of a case in which recorded evidence played an unusually direct role from investigation through trial. The bus cameras did more than help police search for a suspect. Jurors later watched footage of the encounter itself while deciding whether to accept Richburg’s assertion that he shot Womack in self-defense. Prosecutors argued that the recording showed an accidental bump, a verbal dispute, a death threat and a single close-range gunshot. The defense pointed to the same confrontation and argued Richburg believed he was in danger. The jury ultimately convicted him of second-degree murder and two firearm offenses.
On July 10, 2026, Baltimore Circuit Judge Kimberly McBride sentenced Richburg, 63, to 70 years in prison. The punishment fell five years short of the maximum term sought by Assistant State’s Attorney Brent Weinberg. Richburg had been convicted of second-degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence and illegal possession of a firearm. Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan J. Bates said afterward that the sentence would keep Richburg imprisoned for the rest of his life and credited both the prosecutor and homicide detectives for bringing the case to its conclusion.
Nearly 20 months earlier, the episode began with an object falling to the floor of a bus. Womack was preparing to get off near Eutaw and Redwood streets in downtown Baltimore when he dropped a bottle of Gatorade. As he reached down to retrieve it, prosecutors said, he accidentally bumped Richburg. Richburg objected because Womack did not say “excuse me” or apologize. The two exchanged words. Womack stepped off the bus, an action that briefly separated the men and might otherwise have ended the encounter.
Instead, prosecutors said Richburg called after Womack with a threat to his life. Womack returned and asked what Richburg had said. The State’s Attorney’s Office said Richburg repeated the threat while pulling a firearm from his pants, approached Womack and fired once into his chest from several feet away. The shooting happened at about 1 p.m. Both men left the bus afterward, but Womack collapsed nearby. He was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead. The gunfire transformed an argument measured in moments into a homicide investigation that would continue for more than a year and a half.
Detectives initially did not have Richburg’s name. The preserved onboard video gave them an image to distribute publicly, and the fare system provided another investigative lead. Transit records established that the pass associated with the suspected shooter had not been used only on the day of the killing. By matching other transactions to surveillance footage, investigators were able to observe the person using it on other occasions. Authorities said those recordings showed a man resembling Richburg. The process allowed detectives to connect a reusable transit credential to a person and narrow the search without relying solely on the brief footage from the crime scene.
Police arrested Richburg on Dec. 9 in the 1600 block of North Fulton Avenue. He was aboard an MTA bus when officers took him into custody without incident. Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley commented publicly on the coincidence while announcing the arrest. Police also said they received cooperation from members of the public after releasing information about the case. Richburg was initially charged with serious homicide offenses, and the case moved toward a trial where the meaning of the bus video — rather than the identity of the shooter alone — became the main point of dispute.
Richburg did not deny firing the fatal shot when he later took the witness stand. His defense instead centered on whether he was legally justified in doing so. He testified that Womack appeared angry and erratic and said the contact occurred while Womack was reaching for the bottle. Richburg told jurors that he asked Womack why he had not said “excuse me.” His attorney argued that the bump amounted to a battery and that Womack continued to harass and confront Richburg. The defense described Richburg’s threatening statement as an effort to warn Womack away rather than evidence of an intent to carry out an unjustified killing.
Prosecutors asked jurors to focus on what the video showed and on the absence of a weapon in Womack’s possession. During closing arguments, the state said Richburg fired from near-point-blank range into Womack’s chest. Prosecutors argued that the initial contact appeared accidental and that Richburg escalated the dispute after taking offense at Womack’s failure to apologize. The footage allowed jurors to evaluate the movements and timing for themselves rather than relying only on later descriptions from either side. After deliberations in August 2025, they rejected the self-defense claim and convicted Richburg of second-degree murder.
The firearm convictions added another dimension to the judgment. Richburg was found guilty of using a firearm during a crime of violence and possessing a firearm despite being legally prohibited from doing so. At sentencing, Weinberg pointed to earlier convictions that he said included robbery, burglary and illegal firearm possession. He asked McBride for 75 years and argued that Richburg’s history, combined with the deadly shooting on the bus, justified the maximum punishment. The prosecutor told the court that Richburg had not merely uttered a threat but had acted on it, making the encounter more serious than a sudden exchange of angry words.
The defense returned at sentencing to the fear Richburg said he experienced. Attorney Avrohom Greenfield said prosecutors were disregarding evidence favorable to his client and maintained that Womack had harassed and stared at Richburg in a threatening way. Greenfield argued that Richburg had nowhere to retreat in the confined bus and believed he risked being badly hurt. Richburg himself told the judge that he carried the gun for protection. He expressed sympathy for Womack’s relatives and said he had made mistakes, but he continued to dispute the idea that he had acted as a cold-blooded killer.
For Womack’s relatives, the sentencing hearing centered on a different record — the life that ended after the confrontation. Weinberg read five victim-impact statements from Womack’s mother, uncle and three sisters. They described him as kind and funny, a father of two who loved football and music. Relatives occupied the back row of the courtroom while the lawyers argued over years of imprisonment. Their statements placed details before the court that the surveillance footage could not capture: Womack’s role in his family and the lasting effects of a death that began with a brief encounter between passengers who apparently had not known one another.
McBride acknowledged some of the defense’s mitigation before imposing sentence. According to courtroom reporting, she said she did not believe Richburg had left home that day intending to create trouble and noted his expression of remorse. But she also stressed that the jury had reached its verdict after hearing the evidence. Her 70-year sentence left little practical difference between the prosecution’s requested punishment and the term ultimately imposed for a 63-year-old defendant. It also formally moved the case beyond the competing factual arguments that had dominated the trial and into the consequences of convictions already returned.
Outside court, Womack’s mother, Tamika Johnson, said she welcomed the punishment but did not believe Richburg had shown sincere remorse. She said her son knew he had a family that loved and supported him. The July sentencing was the culmination of a case built from several kinds of evidence: a recording of the killing, a publicly circulated image, electronic transit records, additional bus footage, witness information and Richburg’s own testimony. Together, those elements moved the investigation from an unidentified passenger on a surveillance image to an arrest, a contested self-defense trial and a second-degree murder conviction.
The State’s Attorney’s Office said Richburg will serve a 70-year term for the three offenses. The preserved transit footage that first documented the confrontation remained central through the final stages of the case, while the MTA pass records helped establish the identity investigators needed to make an arrest. With sentencing complete, Richburg stands convicted of Womack’s murder and the related gun crimes, closing the trial-level proceedings that grew out of the recorded encounter on a downtown Baltimore bus.
Author note: Last updated August 21, 2026.