Joinder Motion Fails for Two Murders, Attempted Murder

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On May 9, 2025, Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Judge Yolanda A. Tanner denied the prosecution’s motion to join Reginald Raysor’s three separate cases for trial.

Across the three cases, Raysor, 32, is charged with first-degree murder, attempted first- and second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault, armed robbery, and various firearm violations. The incidents include:

A shooting and armed robbery that occurred on Aug. 28, 2024, on the 2400 block of Guilford Avenue,
A homicide on Sept. 14, 2024, on the 1100 block of Springfield Avenue, and
A homicide on Sept. 15, 2024, on the 1100 block of Springfield Avenue.

The prosecution pointed to State v. Faulkner, which sets a precedent for the joinder of criminal cases. The ruling found that cases may be joined if evidence in one case is mutually admissible, or relevant to, the other cases.

Evidence recovered from the crime scene of the Aug. 28, 2024 shooting included two .40-caliber shell casings. One .40-caliber casing was recovered from the Sept. 14 crime scene, and a suspected firearm was recovered the following day, according to prosecutors

The prosecutor maintained that the evidence recovered from the latter two incidents were mutually admissible to the former because the victim of the Aug. 28 armed robbery was able to allegedly identify Raysor. He argued the victim’s statement could place Raysor and his firearm at all three incident locations. He also pointed to the relatively short, 17-day timeframe of the three incidents and claimed the evidence was critical to establishing that Raysor owned the recovered pistol .

Defense attorney Jerry Rodriguez argued that the standard for joinder was unmet, indicating that evidence recovered from the September 2024 incidents failed to aid the August 2024 armed robbery case. Rodriguez further argued the victim’s identification of Raysor was irrelevant to the case, emphasizing it was executed almost two months after the Aug. 28 shooting incident, and that the victim only admitted to previously engaging in sexual activity with Raysor. She did not explicitly say that Raysor shot her.

Rodriguez accused the prosecution of using circular reasoning and said joining the cases for jury trial could prove extremely prejudicial, as jurors might find Raysor guilty merely out of belief he has a propensity to commit crime.

He further argued the Aug. 28 incident should be separated into two cases, as the sexual activity, robbery, and shell casings could potentially have no relation.If the evidence recovered from Sept. 15, 2024 proves admissible to the Sept. 14, 2024 case.

Judge Tanner ultimately dismissed the prosecution’s attempts to invoke case law and denied the joinder motion.

“Faulkner is not the last word on joinder” said Judge Tanner.

Raysor is slated to return to court for a pre-trial conference hearing before Judge Melissa K. Copeland on May 30, where he will likely receive a date for jury trial.