A Silver Spring man has been arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection to a February assault that led to March death of a 44-year-old Bethesda man, according to Montgomery County police.
Darrel David Nixon, 31, was taken into police custody Tuesday and charged with involuntary manslaughter, police said Wednesday in a statement. Nixon, who is being represented by the Montgomery County Office of the Public Defender, was released after posting a $10,000 unsecured bond.
“This case involves considerable assumption and speculation,” Melissa Rothstein, a spokesperson for the public defender’s office, said Saturday in an email statement. “As we continue to investigate the allegations, we strongly urge the public not to jump to any conclusions about what happened. However, one thing is crystal clear, Mr. Nixon is presumed to be innocent of the charges.”
According to the statement, police and Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service officials responded shortly after 2:30 a.m. Feb. 15 to the report of an assault outside La Catrina Bar and Lounge at 4935 Cordell Ave. in Bethesda. Police found Morgan Hippchen Stone unconscious, unresponsive and suffering from “severe head trauma” at the scene, according to the statement. Hippchen Stone was transported to a nearby hospital.
On March 9, Hippchen Stone died from his injuries. On April 22, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore ruled the death a homicide, police said.
Detectives determined Nixon was a suspect after pulling surveillance video from the area of the assault that allegedly showed Nixon punching Hippchen Stone during an argument, knocking him unconscious and causing him to fall to the pavement, according to the statement.
After an arrest warrant was issued Saturday, Nixon was arrested Tuesday and transported to the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit in Rockville, according to the statement.
Dixon’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 18 in Montgomery County District Court.
