Both victim and shooter were called kind, compassionate and courageous at a murder senntencing on Thursday. But when it came time to render a decision, Anne Arundel Circuit Judge Pamela Alban turned to Alexander Williams and said Markus Nocho’s death was “your act.”
“Though you suffer from mental illness,” Alban told the Severn man, “you make it everyone else’s problem. You are dangerous.”
Williams, 35, was sentenced to life in prison Thursday afternoon, 13 months after what the judge called a “cold, calculated” murder.
Describing the suspect, prosecutor Kelly Poma alluded to a pattern of Williams’ character. She said when Williams, a self-identified drug and gun dealer, felt he had been wronged, he could hold a grudge however long he needed to and retaliate whenever he chose to. His victims, Poma said, wouldn’t know what hit them.
Though Nocho’s murder was at the forefront of Thursday’s hearing, the prosecutor presented evidence in two other shootings less than 10 days before the killing, one at Arundel Mills Mall and a drive-by at the house of Williams’ childhood friend.
Searching a sewer near Williams’ home, police eventually discovered the ghost gun used in the two other shootings, but text messages appeared to supply a motive. Williams had a personal problem with his old friend and shot at his father’s home, even though the friend was out of state in service of the military.
Noting Williams has incurred four assault infractions since he was jailed in January 2023, Poma said this kind of erratic violence was “in line with his character.”
Spite appeared to play into Nocho’s death, as well.
An Odenton resident, at the Ridgeview Plaza Shopping Center in Hanover. He was fired at ten times and struck by eight bullets, Poma said. Several bystanders began to give first aid while paramedics were en route, but the prosecutor said the “level of injuries…was just too much.”
Nocho, a former Marine and father to a now 4-year-old daughter, was 26.
Williams, , told investigators the murder, like the drive-by shooting, was a form of vengeance. About a year earlier, Williams had been mugged by a man in a mask. “Word on the street,” Poma said, was that Nocho had done it. So, when Williams was called to pick Nocho up outside the Taco Bell where he worked, an opportunity presented itself.
Poma played surveillance footage showing the killing at multiple angles. Nocho was shot seconds after approaching Williams’ car, in a parking lot near the Taco Bell. There was really no time for conversation, “no real discussion,” the prosecutor said.
“The defendant simply stands up, fires, sits back down and drives away,” Poma told the judge.
Nocho’s family, who filled nearly half of the courtroom benches Thursday, reactedwith a mix of anger and grief to what they saw on the screen.
Nocho’s mother and aunt, Melissa Nocho and Crystal Brown, approached Alban to tell the judge about their beloved son and nephew.
Known affectionately as “Scooby,” Nocho would go out of his way to help anyone in need and, always ready to travel to visit his relatives, he was “dedicated to service” and dedicated to his family, they said.
His parents’ youngest son — his father Willard died just less than a year after Nocho — his loss is still heavy and raw to his loved ones.
Melissa Nocho said she was blessed to have her son’s friends, the support circle he cared for, now care for her, but still, the “pain is devastating.”
“The pain, the agony we’ve experienced didn’t need to happen,” Melissa Nocho said. “Markus did not deserve to die.”
Wanda Williams, the defendant’s mother also spoke to Aldan. She said that many of the words used to describe Nocho were applicable to her son, as well, explaining Williams had dreams of becoming a teacher but that mentally he “suffers with demons.”
“We did not raise a murderer,” she said.
Alban said it was rare to see someone with such an “extensive support network” in the position Williams found himself in. She said it was “such a waste” and that while mental illness is a factor in Williams’ life, she could not look past how “bold” the shooting was — 10 shots fired in a busy parking lot.
The judge sentenced Williams to life in prison for first degree murder, along with five additional years to be served consecutively for a firearm offense. For the drive-by and Arundel Mills shooting, the defendant was sentenced to eight years between reckless endangerment and handgun charges. They will be added to the life sentence.
Earlier in the hearing, when given the chance to speak for himself, Williams said he hoped his incarceration would provide some form of comfort for Nocho’s family. To that, one of them scoffed.