A Hatboro barber was acquitted of murder for shooting a man who attacked him after racist threats
Lawyers for Maurice Byrd said during his trial this week that he shot Steven Strassburg in self-defense after Strassburg attacked him. Jurors cleared him of any wrongdoing.
A Hatboro barber who killed a man during a confrontation outside his business last year that he said was racially motivated was acquitted of murder by a Montgomery County jury late Thursday.
Maurice Byrd, 42, was found not guilty after a four-day trial in Norristown in which his lawyers said he shot Steven Strassburg in self-defense after Strassburg attacked him in a drunken rage and used racial slurs.
Prosecutors had said the shooting was deliberate and amounted to murder. They noted that Byrd ignored instructions from a 911 operator to wait for police to arrive and intervene after Strassburg, 37, confronted him in an argument that ended in gunfire.
After nearly six hours of deliberation, jurors cleared Byrd of any wrongdoing in Strassburg’s June 2024 death.
As he walked out of Judge Risa Vetri Ferman’s courtroom a free man, Byrd, smiling widely, said, “We fought a great fight, and the truth prevailed.”
“It’s an unfortunate set of circumstances,” he added, “but I’m looking forward to moving forward and ensuring to be the best person I can be.”
One of Byrd’s attorneys, Joseph Schultz, said Friday that he was pleased with the jury verdict, which he called fair and just.
“Maurice is just looking to get his life back on track,“ he said, adding that Byrd had expressed an interest in applying to law school.
“We’re all just glad that Maurice gets a second chance,” Schultz said.
In a statement, officials from the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office said that while they respect the jury’s verdict, they stand by the evidence in the case and “remain committed to seeking justice and upholding” their duty to the community.
During the trial, Assistant District Attorney Samantha Cauffman said tensions between Byrd and Strassburg, who rented an apartment next to Byrd’s barbershop, had been simmering for years. Police had been called to Razor Reese’s Salon, Byrd’s business on North York Road, three times since December 2022, according to evidence presented during the trial.
On one occasion, Byrd told police that if Strassburg entered his barbershop and threatened him, he would defend himself.
Then, on June 8, as Byrd sat outside his store smoking, Strassburg confronted him, according to trial testimony.
Strassburg’s next-door neighbor testified that he saw Strassburg walk up to Byrd, accuse him of being a drug dealer, and call him a “dirty n—.”
Byrd went inside his business and called 911 to report that Strassburg had threatened him, and an operator told him to stay in the salon and wait for police.
But Byrd went back outside after seeing Strassburg walk by. Cauffman, the prosecutor, said he was looking for a fight.
“He could have safely avoided this from happening,” Cauffman told jurors during her opening statement. “But the facts will show you that he didn’t want to avoid this.”
A surveillance camera from a nearby business recorded Strassburg chasing Byrd, and then showed Byrd firing at him as he walked backward toward his salon. Strassburg punched Byrd several times during the fight, the video showed, and Byrd shot him twice, once in his neck and back.
The neighbor who testified said he saw Strassburg “launch” himself at Byrd while swinging his fists. By the time the neighbor went to try to break up the fight, he said, he heard gunshots ring out.
He then said he saw Byrd raise his hands, place his gun on the ground, and wait for officers to arrive.
Byrd’s other attorney, Scott Frame, called Strassburg an “angry, racist, drunk maniac,” and said Byrd shot him in self-defense. He said Byrd, an Army veteran who was wounded in combat, acted appropriately in using deadly force to protect himself.
“If he believes his life is in danger, he has every right to use his legally owned and registered gun that a war hero is allowed to have,” Frame said.