ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland’s second highest court will decide whether key evidence is admissible in the case of a murdered firefighter.
Jon Hickey, a Baltimore County volunteer firefighter, was found dead in his Fells Point apartment on November 30, 2017.
Kimberly Hickey said her son's future was bright. He recently started a photography business and had been accepted to the Baltimore City Fire Academy.
“He just moved to the city and he took his dog down there and he was going to make a life of it,” said Hickey.
Video surveillance from a neighbor’s home shows the person believed to have killed him.
When police brought in Jennifer McKay, Hickey’s girlfriend, to identify the suspect, she told them it was Daniel Greene, a man she had a five-year romantic relationship with and knew from childhood.
Police arrested Greene, a former Prince George's firefighter.
Last August, a Baltimore City Circuit Court judge ruled the identification is not reliable because police "crossed a line" in their questioning and led McKay to make a positive identification.
The state appealed the verdict.
The Court of Special Appeals will now rule whether McKay's positive identification of Greene as the murder suspect should be allowed in court.
Court briefs include transcript excerpts from when police interviewed McKay
READ MORE: Judge approves motion to suppress key evidence in murder of Baltimore Co. firefighter
In Monday's hearing, Greene’s defense counsel argued that McKay was "brainwashed" by detectives and police had no other evidence connecting Greene to the murder of Hickey.
“You know, you're there to listen to what the identifying witness has to say, you're not suggesting to them who they should pick out. You're not suggesting to them who is being depicted in the video in this case,” said Warren Brown, the defense attorney for Greene.
The state argued McKay's credibility is a matter for the jury and can be tested in cross-examination.
“I talked to her and she said she knows it was him and she was not brainwashed, they did not brainwash her for anything,” said Hickey.
It’s been a trying year not knowing if her son will ever get justice, but she wears his high school ring around her neck hoping it comes soon.
“I’ve had enough. I need the justice for my son so I can move on and just remember all the good times with him,” Hickey said.
The three-judge panel is expected to issue their opinion sometime in late February.
