Murder Defendant Receives Lesser Sentence for Amended Charge

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Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Lynn S. Mays accepted defense counsel’s request to hand 29-year-old Jonte Gilmore a lesser sentence for an amended charge on Feb. 18.

Gilmore initially faced 62 charges in connection to an Oct. 17, 2023 shooting that occurred in front of a Royal Farms located at the 1500 block of Russell Street. The court ultimately dismissed all but his first charge of attempted first-degree murder, which was amended to a lesser charge of accessory after the fact.

Defense attorney James Sweeting III emphasized the significant amount of trauma Gilmore had experienced prior to the murder. Shortly before the shooting, Gilmore was allegedly set on fire, tied up, and raped, which resulted in hospitalization and given medication that made him drowsy and muddled his thoughts on the day of the incident.

“Mr. Gilmore is a product of Baltimore and has significant trauma in his life,” Sweeting told the court.

Gilmore mentioned that in 2020, his daughter and the mother of his children, who was carrying his unborn son, were shot and killed–a tragedy from which he never fully recovered.

According to Sweeting, Gilmore allegedly did not know that the car he entered with codefendants Julian Craig and Da’Quantay Bailey was stolen. Gilmore did not know Craig and Bailey intended to commit crime, Sweeting said. He was lying in the back of the car when shots were fired, and only drove Craig and Bailey to the hospital when they were injured in the gunfire.

Sweeting asked the court for a lesser sentence than the maximum of five years, because Gilmore had already been in jail for 16 months. “I’m in a loss for words,” he said. “This is a unique situation. I ask the court to help him pick things up. I have faith in Mr. Gilmore.”

The prosecution urged Judge Mays to sentence Gilmore to no less than five years, stating that they “understand Gilmore was not the shooter, but [he] had an important role in taking the two perpetrators away from the scene.”

Judge Mays sentenced Gilmore to three years for the amended charge of accessory after the fact to first-degree murder.