Parkville man charged with murder for shoving man into Inner Harbor

A 36-year-old Parkville man has been charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter for allegedly shoving a man into the Inner Harbor, where the victim drowned.

Police wrote in charging documents that surveillance cameras captured James Fitzsimmons fighting with James Jackson Britt, 37, in the 700 block of South Eden Street, behind the Whole Foods in Harbor East, around 3 p.m. Sunday, and pursuing Britt to the water’s edge and shoving him.

A police spokesperson said the two men did not know each other prior to the altercation.

In the footage, Britt appears to be “trying to retreat or escape from” Fitzsimmons, with Fitzsimmons “continuing to advance toward him,” police said in charging documents.

Fitzsimmons caught up to Britt near a stretch of water between South Central Avenue and South Caroline Street. Divers recovered Britt from the water, but he was pronounced dead at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center.

Fitzsimmons told homicide detectives that he was involved in a fight with Britt and that Britt ran away, police wrote in charging documents. But he claimed Britt jumped into the water on his own, police said.

Fitzsimmons added that Britt’s girlfriend told him that Britt couldn’t swim. “The defendant stated he replied oh well and walked away,” police wrote.

Fitzsimmons was being held without bond and did not have an attorney listed in court records. A bail review was scheduled for Tuesday morning.