A 37-year-old man was sentenced to life in prison for the 2024 m8rder of a rising Nigerian boxer, Isaiah Olugbemi, 27, in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States.
Nicholas Francis Giroux, of Odenton, was sentenced to life plus 20 years for first-degree m8rder on August 26, 2025.
Giroux pleaded guilty to murder on February 28, 2025.
“Mr. Olugbemi was a father and rising star in amateur boxing,” Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney, Anne Colt Leitess said after the sentencing.
“This was a cruel and senseless murder that took the life of someone with great promise.”
Leitess added, “the callousness and lack of remorse on the part of this Defendant is really disturbing. He deserves this sentence. And to the family and friends of Mr. Olugbemi, I hope that today provides some sense of justice for this terrible ordeal.”
On June 17, 2024, Anne Arundel police responded to the 500 block of Meadowmist Way in Odenton, where Olugbemi had been shot multiple times.
He was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced d3ad.
According to police, a video showed Giroux shooting Olugbemi several times until he fell to the ground.
Giroux then shot Olugbemi three more times, according to police. About two weeks before the murder, police said Giroux confronted Olugbemi and a next-door neighbor while they were having a cookout and playing music in the neighbor’s backyard.
Police said that Giroux showed a gun, but he wasn’t arrested because he never pointed the gun at anyone.
Police said they interviewed Giroux on June 18, 2024 and he confessed to the m8rder.
Olugbemi was a well-known boxer in the region and dreamed of competing professionally, according to the owner of the Anne Arundel County gym where Olugbemi primarily trained.
He considered making that jump to become a professional by the end of 2024.
Olugbemi won the National Golden Gloves Championship in Washington, D.C., a month before he was k!lled, and won another amateur fight the week before he d!ed.
“The last text I sent to him was right after he won the fight, and I was like, ‘I’m so proud of you, you accomplished your dreams, man, congratulations,” gym owner Jim Hook said.
