Parker v. Hamilton, 160 A.3d 615

In 2009 William Hamilton shot and killed Craig Junior Parker; Parker was survived by his mother (Cassandra Parker) and an infant son Z. born Nov. 17, 2009.
Plaintiffs (Cassandra, individually and as personal representative, and Z.) filed survival and wrongful death claims in June 2015; amended complaint alleged Hamilton buried Parker to conceal the killing and added fraudulent conveyance against a third party.
The circuit court granted dismissal of the wrongful death claims as time‑barred under Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 3‑904(g), but denied dismissal of survival claims.
Central statutory issues: whether Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5‑201 (tolling for minors) applies to wrongful death claims, and whether § 5‑203 (fraudulent concealment tolling) was adequately pled.
The Court of Appeals reviewed the dismissal (motion-to-dismiss standard), assumed the truth of well‑pleaded facts, and examined whether the amended complaint sufficiently pleaded fraud and whether the General Assembly’s 1997 amendment to § 5‑201 changed tolling for wrongful death claims.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether § 5‑201 tolls wrongful death claims during minority	§ 5‑201 (as amended to reference Title 3, Subtitle 9) tolls wrongful death claims until disability removed	Waddell precludes tolling because wrongful death time limit is a condition precedent, not a statute of limitations	Held: § 5‑201 (post‑1997 text) does toll wrongful death claims during minority; Z.'s claims were tolled
Whether § 5‑201 denial would violate Article 19 Maryland Declaration of Rights	Denying tolling violates equal protection principles (Piselli)	Tolling unnecessary to analyze given statutory text	Court declined to reach constitutional issue because statute's plain language resolved case
Whether § 5‑203 (fraudulent concealment) applies to wrongful death actions	§ 5‑203 tolls wrongful death limitations where defendant fraudulently concealed the cause of action	Hamilton: plaintiffs did not plead fraud with required specificity to invoke tolling	Held: Geisz controls; § 5‑203 applies to wrongful death claims and the amended complaint adequately alleged fraud (burying the body to conceal the killing)
Whether plaintiffs pleaded fraud sufficiently to survive dismissal	Allegations that Hamilton killed Parker and buried the body to conceal it imply fraudulent concealment	Defendant contended allegations were conclusory and insufficient	Held: Allegations were sufficient to indicate fraud or imply it; dismissal of wrongful death counts was error

Waddell v. Kirkpatrick, 331 Md. 52 (1993) (held wrongful death statute’s time limit was a condition precedent and not subject to tolling under pre‑1997 § 5‑201)
Geisz v. Greater Balt. Med. Ctr., 313 Md. 301 (1988) (held § 5‑203 fraudulent concealment tolling applies to wrongful death actions)
Piselli v. 75th St. Med., 371 Md. 188 (2002) (constitutional challenge regarding unequal tolling under Article 19 referenced by parties)
Bobo v. State, 346 Md. 706 (1997) (standard of review for motion to dismiss: assume truth of well‑pleaded facts)
Walker v. Essex, 318 Md. 516 (1990) (background on wrongful death actions as statutory creations)