19-Year-Old Attempted Murder Defendant Trial is Scheduled for May

Thank you for reading Baltimore Witness. Help us continue our mission into 2024.

A 19-year-old Baltimore resident accused of an attempted murder earlier this year was offered a plea on Dec. 1 before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa Phinn.

Kyashia Walker, is charged with two counts of first-degree attempted murder, two counts of second-degree attempted murder, two counts of first-degree assault, two counts of second-degree assault, two counts of use of a firearm in a violent crime, three counts of reckless endangerment, having a handgun on her person, and discharging a firearm in connection to an incident on May 11.

Judge Phinn listened as the prosecution presented a plea of 20 years suspending all but seven years with three years probation for first-degree assault and five years without parole for use of a firearm in violent crime. The charges are set to run concurrently.

Walker and her defense attorney Martin Cohen, rejected the plea offer.

Baltimore Witness previously reported on Aug. 10, that Cohen told Judge Philip S. Jackson that Walker was going to claim self defense.

“I understand that these are serious charges,” Cohen said, “but this is going to be a self-defense claim.”

He said video footage shows the victim of the shooting pulling out a gun in front of Walker and two other women.

“My client shot back at him to stop him from shooting people,” he said.

The video, he said, also shows the victim holding a gun while running away from the scene.

However, the prosecution argued the video shows Walker shooting first, which Cohen then described as “absolutely false.”

While a tree in the video hides who shot first, Cohen said multiple witnesses will testify during trial that the victim shot first. The only witness who would say the victim shot second, he said, will not testify due to a “Fifth Amendment issue.”

“But this is not an attempted murder the way the state is claiming it is,” he said.

Walker’s trial is scheduled for May 19, 2022.

Notifications are not yet available for this specific case. Please check back later for updates. Thank you.