Murder Defendant Prepares for Motion Hearing After Mistrial

Thank you for reading Baltimore Witness. Help us continue our mission into 2024.

A murder defendant, who received a mistrial nearly one week ago, was scheduled Nov. 1 for a motion hearing. The hearing would decide whether the codefendants would be tried together.

Daaon Spears, 18, was accused of murdering 16-year-old Deanta Dorsey during a shooting on the 4400 block Edmondson Avenue at the Edmondson Village Shopping Center on Jan. 4, 2023.

He is charged with 31 counts, including two counts of first-degree murder, five counts of firearm use in a felony or violent crime, carrying a handgun, loaded handgun on a person, possession of a firearm as a minor, five counts of attempted first-degree murder, four counts of attempted second-degree murder, four counts of first-degree assault, four counts of second-degree assault, three counts of first-degree conspiracy to murder, and illegal possession of a regulated firearm.

Spear’s co-defendant, Bryan Johnson, 18, who is charged with 30 counts, including first-degree murder, attempted first- and second-degree murder, first- and second-degree assault, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and other weapons charges in connection to the incident.

A motion to join the defendants’ cases was set for Feb. 25, 2025.

Johnson, 18, is scheduled for a pretrial conference on Dec. 16 before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa Copeland.

The date of the trial was decided, but not scheduled because Judge Copeland does not have the schedules for judges that far in advance. Parties agreed to schedule the trial to begin on April 28, 2025 in a large courtroom to accommodate for families The trial is expected to last for nine days.