Trial Scheduled for Suspect in 16-Year-Old's Murder

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A first-degree murder defendant went before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa K. Copeland on July 31 to schedule his trial.

Daaon Spears, 18, is charged with 31 counts, including two counts of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault and second-degree assault as well as various firearms charges for a Jan. 4, 2023, shooting near Edmondson Village Shopping Center that killed 16-year-old Deanta Dorsey.

Spears was presented with a plea deal that included life, suspending all but 50 years, the first five years without the possibility of parole, and five years of probation for first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and firearm use in a felony violent crime, which defense attorney Brandon Taylor rejected on Spears’ behalf.

The trial was expected to start last week before Judge Charles H. Dorsey, but was rescheduled due to the prosecution having Covid. It will now take place on Oct. 15, for five days, before Judge Robert K. Taylor Jr.

According to documents from the District Court of Maryland, a Baltimore Police Department officer responded to a shooting on the 4400 block of Edmondson Avenue. She scene, she noticed multiple male victims on the ground suffering from apparent gunshot wounds.

One of them, Dorsey, was unresponsive and bystanders were providing CPR when police arrived. The officer reported four additional shooting victims, all non-fatal. They were transported to the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center and Sinai Hospital. Dorsey succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead two days later.

Trial Scheduled for Suspect in 16-Year-Old’s Murder