4 Co-Defendants Have Trial Scheduled for November

By Alyssia Davis [former] - February 9, 2022
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

A new trial date was set for four co-defendants, each charged with first-degree murder, on Feb. 7 before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa Phinn. 

William Thornton, 28, Shamar Jerry, 22, James Dunbar, 21, and Anthony Clark, 22, are slated to be tried together on Nov. 10 with Judge Dana Middleton presiding. The defendants were scheduled for a two-week trial that was slated to begin this week, but an increase in COVID-19 cases has postponed all jury trials to at least the beginning of March.

Along with first-degree murder, each defendant is charged with use of a firearm during a violent crime, three counts of having a handgun in a vehicle, assault weapon with roster violation, possession of a firearm as a minor, and conspiracy to first-degree murder. 

Dunbar is also charged with illegal possession of a regulated firearm, and conspiracy to use of a firearm in a violent crime.

Clark is also charged with having a handgun on his person, and conspiracy to use of a firearm during a violent crime. 

The four co-defendants rejected plea offers of life, suspending all but 75 years, for first-degree murder, handgun use during a violent crime, and conspiracy to first-degree murder on July 16, 2021. 

According to the Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Police found the body of Donnell Brockington, 21, with multiple gunshot wounds around 8:40 p.m. in a McElderry Park neighborhood located on the 2600 block of McElderry Street in November 2019. Brockington was taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

Thornton, Clark, Dunbar, and Jerry, are represented by John Cox, Donald Wright, Russell Neverdon, and Chantal Joseph, respectively.