A Montgomery County jury found Keith Delcid-Palacios, 25, guilty of second-degree murder and other charges for the 2021 shooting death of Martin Nolan and the attempted shooting of another victim; he faces life in prison plus 130 years at his sentencing on November 7, 2024.
According to the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office, “In the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, MD, before the Honorable Jill Cummins, a jury has found defendant Keith Delcid-Palacios, 25, of Silver Spring, guilty on charges of second-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault and two counts of use of a handgun in commission of a felony for the shooting death of 21-year-old Martin Nolan and the attempted shooting of an additional victim. The nine-day trial concluded late yesterday, September 26, 2024.
Delcid-Palacios faces the potential of life in prison plus an additional 130 years. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for November 7, 2024.
This stems from an incident on January 14, 2021, in the parking lot of Highland Elementary School in Silver Spring. The victim was sitting in the driver seat of his parked vehicle with a friend in the passenger seat when the defendant walked up and repeatedly yelled “Where’s Scrappy?” The defendant started pistol whipping Nolan in the head. Nolan put the vehicle into the drive position and the defendant stated, “If you leave, I am going to blast your ass.” Nolan started to drive forward, and the defendant fired a shot from his handgun, which struck Nolan. Nolan lost control of the vehicle and struck another car. He died as a result of the gunshot wound. The other victim ran from the vehicle and the defendant fired at him as he fled, but he was not hit.
Assistant State’s Attorneys Thea Zumwalt and Donna Fenton are prosecuting this matter.
During the course of the trial, the defendant’s brother, Jeffery Delcid-Palacios, was arrested and charged with two counts of intimidating a witness and one count of obstruction of justice. He was ordered held without bond by a judge in District Court and is pending trial.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the family of Martin Nolan. The level of violence exhibited by the defendant was outrageous. We commend our prosecution team for seeing that justice was served in this matter despite challenges including witness intimidation,” said State’s Attorney John McCarthy.”
