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By
Sage Cho
- March 4, 2025
Court
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Daily Stories
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Homicides
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Victims
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Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa K. Copeland postponed the trial of homicide codefendants Gregory Whitfield, 19, and Bishop Chance, 18, as the two await the approval of a motion to join their cases.
Judge Barry G. Williams transferred the case to Judge Copeland after counsel requested time to accommodate further discovery and approval of their motion to joinder.
Whitfield and Chance are charged with first-degree murder and assault, firearm use in a felony or violent crime, possession of a firearm as minors, and related conspiracy and firearm charges in connection to the July 16, 2024 fatal shooting of Theodore Burrell, 20.
According to charging documents, officers responded to a Westside Shopping Center establishment located in the 2400 block of Frederick Avenue after ShotSpotter alerted them to six gunshots in the vicinity. Upon arrival at approximately 5:43 p.m., they located Burrell lying in front of the Wells Fargo bank at the shopping center, suffering from gunshot wounds to his torso and left leg. Medics transported Burrell to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he was pronounced deceased at 6:23 p.m. The following day, a medical examiner conducted an autopsy and found the cause of Burrell’s death to be a homicide by gunshot wounds.
While processing the crime scene, officers learned that Chance walked into Harbor Hospital to treat a non life-threatening gunshot wound to his right buttock. Bishop initially resisted questioning but later informed officers that he was allegedly shot at a Royal Farms store in an unspecified location, which detectives later found improbable and likely an admission of guilt.
Investigators later learned that Chance was driven to the hospital in a 2008 Infiniti with a Virginia license plate that belonged to Whitfield. Examination of the two’s cellphone and social media account data revealed them to be close associates with alleged ties to the YRN drug organization.
Burrell and another victim who walked into Grace Hospital the same day were revealed to be linked to the opposing “Monroe and Mosher” drug organization. Analysis of jail calls corroborated the notion that YRN had been involved in an ongoing dispute resulting in “numerous recent acts of violence against each other and Mosher” at the Westside Shopping Center.
Video surveillance footage from the area captured one of the two shooters dropping a .22-caliber handgun that was later analyzed for DNA. On July 25, 2024, investigators allegedly recovered 9mm, 10mm, and .22-caliber ammunition from Chance’s bedroom.
Approximately 15 minutes after the homicide, a 2013 Hyundai Elantra with a Maryland license plate was involved in an accident. The vehicle was reported stolen on July 15, 2024, the day before the shooting. After recovering and searching the vehicle, examiners were able to likely match blood samples from the back passenger seat to DNA samples swabbed from Chance’s mouth.
Whitfield’s original defense attorney, Todd Oppenheim, previously objected to a joinder motion and left the case. Defense attorneys Jerry Prince and Christopher O’Meara stood in for Oppenheim at the March 4 postponement hearing.
Chance’s defense attorney, Staci Pipkin, was unavailable for the hearing due to an unrelated sentencing matter before Judge Timothy J. Doory.
Whitfield and Chance will reappear in court April 29 for a jury trial before Judge Cynthia H. Jones.