2021 Fairview Avenue Murder Defendant Schedules Retrial

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On Oct. 5, a murder defendant who successfully appealed his first trial outcome appeared before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa M. Phinn to hear the prosecution’s plea offer.

Jonathan Lee Bowman is charged with second-degree murder, firearm use in a felony violent crime and having a handgun on his person in connection to the April 24, 2021, murder of 25-year-old Demetris Henry.

Bowman, 27, and his attorney, Judit Otvos, rejected a plea offer of 50 years, suspending all but 30 years, with five years of supervised probation for second-degree murder and firearm use in a felony violent crime.

Judge Phinn scheduled Bowman’s retrial to begin on Jan. 16 before Judge Cynthia H. Jones.

Bowman’s case was remanded by the Appellate Court of Maryland in February because counsel did not ask the jury panel in his first trial whether they’d give more or less weight to testimony from police officers, a prosecution’s witness or a defense witness.

Documents from the District Court of Maryland state that witnesses identified Bowman as the man who shot Henry during an argument inside the apartment building they both lived in on the 3400 block of Fairview Avenue.