A man accused of killing his neighbor in an Atlantic City rooming house allegedly had several arguments with the victim before the fatal shooting.
Umar Abdullah, 45, is charged with murder and weapons offenses in the Oct. 10 shooting of Mark Wright, inside the Cassino Hotel rooming house on South Georgia Avenue.
The two had been living in adjacent rooms and previously engaged in verbal altercations, according to the affidavit of probable cause obtained by BreakingAC.
Wright, 35, was found fatally shot in the doorway of Room 233 just after 4 a.m. Oct. 10.
The fights were sparked by Wright’s sexual orientation, his brother told BreakingAC.
“I confronted the guy two times and told him to leave my brother alone,” Raymond Lee Wright said. “(Abdullah) said he had no problems with (my brother).”
But Raymond Lee Wright said he later got a call from his brother saying Abdullah was trying to jump him.
“Umar ran away screaming (that) my brother is a f–,” Wright said.
Mark Wright was loved by many, his brother said.
“He was just happy and very comfortable in his own skin,” Raymond Lee Wright said. “He was proud to be gay. He said it loud, ‘I’m gay, so what.'”
But Abdullah is also gay, and not open, the victim told his brother.
Mark Wright and Abdullah’s girlfriend got into an argument over the claim, Wright said, and the two men fought.
“My brother won and everyone was teasing Umar like, ‘You lost to a gay man,'” Wright said, claiming that is why his brother was shot.
The shooting was captured on video surveillance, the affidavit states.
Abdullah tried to remove the video surveillance system from the front desk, a witness told police.
He was seen with a gun sticking out of his waistband when he fled, according to the affidavit.
Abdullah, who also goes by Munchie and O, was arrested by the U.S. Marshall’s Task Force in Egg Harbor City on Monday.
He was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshall’s Task Force on Monday morning in Egg Harbor City, Shill said.
Raymond Lee Wright said he is now lost without his brother and best friend.
Wright, who performs as Kaution Da Rapper, said his brother was his biggest fan.
“When I started rapping and doing shows, he was the first one to pay for my songs and mixtape,” he said.
Mark Wright also was “great friends” with his 13-year-old niece, Vanessa.
Abdullah, who also goes by the names James Coger III and James Collins, is in the Atlantic County Justice Facility.
Under the name Collins, he has several prior convictions, including a 2014 gun and drugs case. A 2010 aggravated assault conviction makes him a certain person not allowed to obtain a gun, the affidavit states.
He was sentenced to five years in prison in 2016 and had to serve at least 3½ years before parole eligibility, according to court records.
