Cogir Senior Living Lawsuit: Fatal Shooting and Security Failures

The Cogir Senior Living lawsuit was filed on March 19, 2026, in Baltimore County Circuit Court by Linda Buttrick, whose 87-year-old partner Robert Fuller Jr. was shot to death inside his apartment at the Cogir of Potomac assisted living facility on Valentine’s Day 2026. The 59-page complaint names Cogir of Potomac, its parent Cogir Senior Living USA, and medication technician Maurquise James, and alleges that management knew for weeks that James posed a danger to residents but shielded him from discipline. It brings 15 counts of intent, negligence, gross negligence, and malice, and seeks at least $1 million in compensatory and punitive damages.¹²

What the Complaint Alleges Cogir Knew

The core allegation is that Cogir had “full knowledge” James was dangerous long before the shooting. According to the complaint, staff had reported that he was impaired on duty, mishandled residents’ medications, sexually harassed at least one coworker, and behaved erratically.¹

On February 3, 2026, a nurse identified in the complaint as “Nurse Jane Doe” filed a formal written report stating that James had violated Cogir’s medication policy in a way that “directly endangered residents in his care.” The report added that other employees had held back their own complaints out of fear of retaliation. The nurse was fired after submitting the report, the lawsuit says. Fuller was killed eleven days later.³⁴

The suit points to a reason it says complaints went nowhere: James’s mother, Shenise James-Dubose, held a senior leadership position at the facility as a regional health and wellness director. The complaint alleges she used that authority to suppress complaints about her son and to retaliate against staff who raised them. Plaintiffs’ attorney Michael Belsky called it a “culture at Cogir to protect Mr. James and not to protect the people who complained about him.”¹⁴

Security Failures and What Happened After the Shooting

The complaint also alleges the building itself was unsafe. It says Cogir lacked properly working security systems, failed to install hallway cameras, and did not detect or fix security breaches. During the killing, James allegedly tampered with security equipment, disabled alarms, and propped open exterior doors to get in. Investigators had already spotted James on surveillance footage at 1:40 a.m. on January 26, more than two hours after his shift ended, walking outside the facility in the snow.⁵¹

The most pointed allegation concerns what happened after Fuller was killed. According to the complaint, multiple employees recognized James in the surveillance footage released by police, and Buttrick and other staff identified him to investigators as a suspect. Cogir kept him on the job for eleven days. During that stretch, James continued to serve as Buttrick’s medication technician, entering the apartment where Fuller had been shot and where Buttrick still lived, and Cogir provided her no protection while requiring her to accept medication from the man she believed had killed her partner.¹⁶

How Cogir Is Responding

Cogir has said it intends to “defend vigorously” against the lawsuit and is “confident that the facts will demonstrate our ongoing commitment to a safe and supportive environment for all residents.” A company representative said Cogir was “devastated” by the incident and that its “hearts remain with Mr. Fuller’s family.”¹

The company said it cooperated with the Montgomery County Police investigation from the outset and pointed to its pre-employment screening, which it said includes third-party background checks, nationwide criminal database searches, and sex offender registry checks. After the shooting, Cogir said, it conducted a security review and made several changes: temporary armed security, rekeying the entire community, monitoring technology on all exterior doors, tightened building access protocols, and permanent additional security personnel.¹

James’s criminal defense attorney, Michael Stark, separately called the civil lawsuit “frivolous” and said he is focused on his client’s innocence. Stark has also contested investigators’ identification of James in the surveillance footage.⁷⁴

The Killing and the Criminal Case

On the morning of February 14, 2026, first responders found Robert Fuller Jr. unresponsive in his apartment at Cogir of Potomac. He had been shot in the head at close range, and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide. No firearm was found in the apartment. Buttrick was in the apartment at the time but told investigators she did not witness the shooting. Surveillance footage showed a person entering and exiting through a side door that had been propped open with the alarm deactivated, wearing a distinctive plaid jacket and what investigators later identified as a wig.⁸⁴

Ten days after Fuller was killed, 22-year-old Maurquise Emillo James was arrested in downtown Rockville after attempting to flee from officers. He had worked as a medication technician at Cogir of Potomac and was one of Fuller’s caregivers. He was charged with first-degree murder in Montgomery County. The arrest came about twelve hours after a separate incident in Baltimore in which James allegedly fired two shots at a Maryland State Police trooper during a traffic stop; he was also charged with attempted first-degree murder, felony assault, and using a firearm during a crime of violence. Forensic evidence, including matching bullet casings, linked the gun used in the trooper shooting to Fuller’s killing.⁸⁹

James has been held without bond since his arrest. In May 2026, a Montgomery County Circuit Court judge accepted a sealed competency evaluation and ruled James incompetent to stand trial, finding him a “danger to the public,” and committed him to a state psychiatric facility for treatment.¹⁰

What the State Regulator Found

Two days after the shooting, the Maryland Department of Health’s Office of Health Care Quality opened an unannounced complaint survey at Cogir of Potomac. Investigators spent five days in early March 2026 reviewing records and interviewing staff. The survey identified deficiencies at the facility, including a resident’s abuse claim against a staff member and a separate incident in which a resident was injured after falling out of a wheelchair. Published reports do not specify what sanctions or corrective actions, if any, followed.¹¹

Where the Case Stands

The Buttrick lawsuit is in active litigation. Plaintiffs’ attorneys have argued that the competency ruling against James does not affect their civil case against Cogir and, if anything, reinforces the negligence claims about who the company kept on staff.¹⁰ Status hearings in both the murder case and the attempted murder case are set for November 2026, when the court will reassess whether James can proceed to trial.⁵

1
McKnight’s Senior Living. Lawsuit Accuses Senior Living Community of Negligence After Employee Shoots, Kills Resident
2
WTOP. Woman Sues Maryland Senior Living Facility Where Employee Allegedly Killed Her Longtime Partner
3
DC News Now. Complaint: Potomac Senior Living Home Ignored Dangerous Employee Leading to Resident’s Murder
4
NBC Washington. Lawsuit Accuses Potomac Assisted Living Facility of Ignoring Concerns About Murder Suspect
5
The Daily Record. Assisted Living Staffer in Potomac Ruled Mentally Unfit in Fatal Shooting
6
WJLA. Millionaire’s Partner Sues Maryland Senior Living Facility Over Murder
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The Banner. Linda Buttrick, Robert Fuller Jr. Lawsuit
8
Montgomery County Government. Montgomery County Police Press Release
9
WTOP. Employee at Senior Living Facility Charged in Death of 87-Year-Old Man, Attempted Murder of Maryland State Police Trooper
10
WBAL-TV. Maurquise James Not Competent to Stand Trial in Potomac Murder
11
The Banner. Cogir Survey: State Claim of Abuse at Assisted Living