33-Year-Old Man Found Guilty of Fatal Shooting Outside Uptown Bar

By Andrew Michaels - March 30, 2022
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

A jury ruled homicide defendant Darrius Lemar Jordan guilty of second-degree murder on March 29 in connection to the fatal shooting of Guy Thomas in February 2021.

According to the Maryland Judiciary website, Jordan was found guilty of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree assault. However, he will not face the original charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to first-degree murder, first-degree assault, and firearm use in a felony violent crime.

During closing arguments on Tuesday, the prosecutor described the incident as “a thought-out, planned attack” that Jordan knew was going to end with Thomas’ death.

Witness testimony over the course of the trial revealed that Thomas was buying drugs from someone nicknamed “Black” who was sitting in a black SUV outside Uptown Bar on the corner of Edmondson Avenue and N. Monroe Street. Jordan was also in the vehicle.

Thomas did not have enough money, Jordan testified, so the defendant spotted him the rest of the cash.

Video surveillance footage later showed Jordan hitting and kicking Thomas when the defendant saw the victim buying a beer inside the bar with money he said he did not have a few minutes before.

“This was about more than a gift,” the prosecutor told the jury.

Hanna implored the jury to take all of the evidence into consideration, specifically, the lack thereof.

“The state took basic facts and compiled other things,” including “conjecture and speculation,” Hanna said to the jury.

Hanna reinforced her statement by showing the jury the blue hoodie that Jordan allegedly wore the night of the shooting. The defense attorney argued that one of the witnesses who previously testified in the trial showed the hoodie to the jury with one hand, making it difficult for them to see that it was a size medium—a size Jordan couldn’t possibly wear.

“Your job is not to believe [the prosecution’s] story; it’s to apply the evidence,” she said.

The jury informed Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Lynn S. Mays of the verdict shortly after 3 p.m. on Tuesday.