Jury begins deliberations in 2020 nightclub slaying of Bangor man

May 3—Jurors deliberated for about two hours Monday in the trial of a Bangor man charged with murder in the Feb. 1, 2020, stabbing death of Demetrius Snow, 25, in the parking lot of the Half Acre Nightclub on Harlow Street.

Rayshaun Moore, 36, has pleaded not guilty to murder in the death of Snow, 25, of Bangor, who died of stab wounds shortly after 1 a.m. on Feb. 1, 2020, in the parking lot of the Half Acre Nightclub on Harlow Street.

Testimony in the trial began April 26 at the Penobscot Judicial Center in Bangor. It is the first murder trial held in the state since last fall.

Jurors are to resume deliberations at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Moore did not take the stand in his own defense.

Security cameras at Half Acre captured the fight between Moore and Snow and the aftermath of the stabbing, but did not show who wielded the knife. The stabbing took place on a snowbank outside the camera's range. Snow was able to get up and stagger into view before collapsing.

The prosecution maintained that Moore's slaying of Snow was an act of revenge because earlier in the evening Snow assaulted Moore in the Half Acre parking lot.

"Rayshaun Moore went [back] to the Half Acre to catch a body," Assistant Attorney General Lisa Bogue told jurors in her closing argument Monday, referring to language a key witness used. "He was focused and determined."

Moore's ex-girlfriend, 37-year-old Theresa Parker of Portland, took the stand on Wednesday, saying that Moore told her between 2:20 and 3 a.m. on Feb. 1, 2020, that "he had just caught a body and the police were going to be looking for him."

Parker was living on Spring Street in Bangor with Christina "Tina" Gleitz, 39, she told jurors Wednesday. She dated Moore until a few days before Snow's death, she said.

Parker said that Moore, Snow and other friends were partying the evening of Jan. 31, 2020, in her bedroom, which she still shared with Moore. Gleitz asked them to leave between 8:30 and 9 p.m. because they were loud and she needed to put her 6-year-old son to bed.

Moore left with the others but returned before midnight after a fist fight with Snow in the Half Acre parking lot. She testified that he had a cut lip and was upset that his friends had not protected him. Parker told jurors that Moore then left again.

Parker also identified the murder weapon as a knife that belonged to Moore. She testified that as he left, Moore said that he "was going to catch a body."

The defense claimed that Kevin Brogdon Sr., 29, of Bangor took Moore's knife away from him and stabbed Snow. Brogdon took the stand Wednesday and denied that. He also said that he had never seen nor touched the murder weapon.

Defense attorney Hunter Tzovarras of Bangor said the state had not proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Moore killed Snow.

"Even if there's just one thing that causes you a reasonable doubt, then you'd vote not guilty," he said. "Some things you may want to discuss are — there's someone else's DNA on the knife [that was not identified] and we know that Kevin [Brogdon] was there in the thick of the fight."

Tzovarras said that Brogdon "had bad blood" with Snow and put off talking to police after he learned Snow had died. The attorney also said that Brogdon saw Snow had been hurt but did nothing to help him and left the parking lot when police arrived.

Brogdon's former girlfriend, Sara Monroe, 33, of Bangor, testified Monday for the defense. She told jurors that she picked Brogdon up at the Half Acre late on Jan. 31, 2020. Monroe, who also had dated Snow, said that he had blood on one of his hands and on an outer pair of pants that he took off and threw into a dumpster outside a friend's apartment building.

Monroe, who wept throughout much of her testimony, said that Brogdon refused to tell her what had happened but told her he was jealous of Snow. She told jurors that when he learned that Snow had died Brogdon told Monroe: "I guess you won't go back to Demetrius now, will you?" and "Would you forgive me if I had anything to do with it?"

Bangor police and fire responded to a report of an injured man at Half Acre Nightclub's parking lot at 190 Harlow St. at around 1:15 a.m. Feb. 1, 2020. Snow was stabbed seven times but died as a result of a wound to his heart, Dr. Lisa Funte, Maine's deputy chief medical examiner, testified last week.

Before the trial began, Moore rejected an offer that he plead guilty to murder in exchange for a sentence of 38 years, according to lawyers.

Snow was one of 12 children. He moved to Maine in 2015 or 2016 from Rochester, New York. His mother and seven of his siblings were present for opening arguments.

If convicted, Moore faces between 25 years and life in prison.