Investigators say the records conflict with a suspect’s account that another person entered the apartment and attacked her boyfriend.
BALTIMORE — Surveillance footage and a 911 call made shortly before a fatal stabbing have emerged as central pieces of the investigation into the death of 49-year-old Royal Foster, according to court documents in the murder case against his girlfriend.
Police have charged 35-year-old Chanel Ervin of Baltimore with first-degree murder in Foster’s Sept. 9 death at an apartment in the 5200 block of York Road. A judge denied Ervin bond Monday. The charge is an allegation, and the case has not been decided in court.
The investigation began at about 7:22 p.m. Sept. 9, when Baltimore police officers responded to the York Road address for a reported cutting. Officers found Foster with an apparent stab wound, and medics pronounced him dead. Homicide detectives then assumed control of the case.
Newly reported court documents provide a more detailed account of what investigators say they encountered inside the residence. Foster was found on the living room floor, according to the documents. Investigators reported finding a knife and a box cutter nearby and another knife with suspected blood in the kitchen sink.
Ervin was at the scene and spoke with investigators, according to the records. Police said she told them that she and Foster had been arguing when another individual entered the apartment. Her account, as described in the documents, was that the person stabbed Foster while defending her and then fled.
Detectives said surveillance footage did not support the claim that another person entered and left the apartment. Court records say investigators reviewed video that did not depict another individual entering or exiting Foster’s residence during the period surrounding the stabbing.
The documents also describe a 911 call investigators say Foster made shortly before he was stabbed. According to the records, Foster asked police to come to the residence and help remove Ervin. Authorities have not publicly released the full recording or a complete transcript of the call.
Together, the video and the reported 911 call form part of the evidence investigators cited as the case moved toward Ervin’s arrest. The publicly available information does not establish how prosecutors will present that evidence at trial or how Ervin’s defense will respond to it.
Police took Ervin into custody Sept. 10 and announced the arrest the following day. She was brought to the Central Booking Intake Facility and charged with first-degree murder. Police had initially described the case only as a homicide investigation involving a 49-year-old man who suffered an apparent stab wound.
A judge ordered Ervin held without bond after her video appearance in Baltimore City District Court. Her family attended the proceeding but did not issue a statement afterward, according to FOX45 News. Ervin is expected back in court next month, while the case remains pending.
Author note: Last updated September 16, 2026.