West Baltimore Street Murder Suspect Convicted After Testimony of Victim’s Girlfriend

By Racquel Bazos [former] - September 16, 2024
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

The testimony of the victim’s girlfriend took center stage in the closing arguments of a 19-year-old murder defendant, ultimately convincing a Baltimore City Circuit Court jury to convict him Sept. 13. 

Kharod O’Neill was charged with first-degree murder, firearm use in a felony violent crime, having a loaded handgun in a vehicle and having a loaded handgun on his person for the July 2023 murder of 20-year-old Jriley Downs.

“This really is simple, ladies and gentlemen,” said the prosecutor during closing arguments before Judge Anthony F. Vittoria. She recapitulated the evidence and testimony, including that from Downs’ girlfriend, who had been with Downs the entire day of July 3, 2023. 

Downs’ girlfriend testified that they met the defendant, known to her as “Cheddar,” to buy marijuana on the 2600 block of Saint Benedict Street. Once Cheddar got into the car, he directed Downs to drive to the 2200 block of West Baltimore Street to pick up some more marijuana.

In the car, she noted that Cheddar was acting suspiciously. According to her testimony, Cheddar asked Downs multiple times if he “was strapped”; that is, armed. Upon arrival, according to the witness as well the resulting ShotSpotter alert, four gunshots rang out. 

Downs suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the head. Jurors watched the footage from Baltimore Police Department body-worn cameras showing Downs’ body strewn along a back alley, bleeding profusely. 

The prosecution used O’Neill’s own admissions against him. When he was arrested, he admitted to police the keys he had on his person were for his car and that all the belongings in the vehicle were his. Police found a gun loaded with a 32-round extended magazine inside a backpack in the suspect vehicle, a Honda. Similarly, O’Neill identified himself as Cheddar during jail calls to his own girlfriend. 

A firearms examiner determined that the shell casings found on the crime scene were consistent with the projectiles removed from Downs’ body — and that both sets of ballistics evidence were a likely match to the gun from O’Neill’s car. 

Defense attorney James Sweeting III cast doubt on the prosecution’s star witness’ recollection of the murder. He asked the jury to compare her testimony to timestamps on various body-worn camera videos. Likewise, he pointed out her 911 call was never played in court nor was evidence presented of her going to University of Maryland Shock Trauma and meeting detectives. 

Sweeting was also skeptical that Downs’ girlfriend wouldn’t have noticed Cheddar enter her car with a gun loaded with such a large extended magazine.

During the prosecution’s rebuttal, the assistant state’s attorney clarified that the magazine was recovered from O’Neill’s car nine days after the shooting. Referring to that line of argument as a “red herring,” she explained that O’Neill may or may not have used the magazine during Downs’ murder. 

Later, the jury found O’Neill guilty of second-degree murder, having a loaded handgun in a vehicle and having a loaded handgun on his person on Friday. He was found not guilty of firearm use in a felony violent crime.