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By
Carmen Gregg
- March 3, 2025
Court
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Daily Stories
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Non-Fatal Shooting
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Suspects
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Victims
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Terrance Hazelwood, 42, was initially sentenced to life in prison for a February 2024 non-fatal shooting incident.
On Feb. 16, Hazelwood entered Club Paradise, a liquor store located in the 1300 block of Laurens Street, and shot a 33-year-old-man five times.
According to charging documents, Baltimore Police Department (BPD) officers heard multiple gunshots as they observed Hazelwood leaving the store and followed him. Hazelwood opened fire at the police cruiser and attempted to escape in his cousin’s Dodge Durango.
After a brief pursuit involving a BPD helicopter, Hazelwood got out of the car and fled on foot. He threw an object into a sewer drain that was later identified as the handgun used in the shooting. Hazelwood was arrested two days later.
“The reason we don’t have vigilante justice in this country is because of stuff like this,” said the prosecution.
Defense attorney Tony Garcia spoke about the victim’s actions leading up to the shooting, alleging that Hazelwood shot the victim in relation to a Feb. 14, 2024 incident. According to Garcia, the victim held a 14-year-old boy at gunpoint and forcibly stripped him before forcing him to walk home from school naked. The boy was the son of a close family friend, considered to be Hazelwood’s godson.
“Vigilantism is obviously not being promoted,” Garcia said.
Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Charles H. Dorsey III admonished Hazelwood’s actions.
“My concern with you is your decision-making abilities,” said Judge Dorsey. “To go and shoot somebody five times. I have problems understanding the thought process.”
Judge Dorsey sentenced Hazelwood to life in prison plus 30 years, suspending all but 22 years, along with a no-contact order with the victim and state’s witnesses and a requirement to register as a gun offender.