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By
Sage Cho
- May 21, 2025
Court
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Daily Stories
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Non-Fatal Shooting
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A man charged in two firearm possession cases rejected an offer to have one of his cases dismissed as part of a plea on May 21.
Franklin Titus Evans, 24, is charged with illegally possessing a regulated firearm with a prior disqualifying felony conviction, discharging a gun in Baltimore City, and having a handgun on his person in connection to two incidents from early this year.
Prosecutors say video evidence links him to the crimes.
According to charging documents, on Jan. 7, at approximately 10:12 p.m., a Lexington Market police unit arrested Evans in the 300 block of W. Lexington Street in reference to a semi-automatic handgun with a silver slide. A week later, a search warrant was issued for Evans’ dark blue smartphone.
The warrant was executed on Jan. 23, and investigators recovered multiple photographs and videos from Evans’ smartphone that showed him holding a black handgun.
A Jan. 3 video taken at Evans’ home on 41st Street captured him sitting atop a freezer by the window of his kitchen, ostensibly holding a black handgun in his right hand and a magazine in his left. After securing the magazine in the gun and checking the firearm to ensure it was loaded, Evans allegedly discharged it toward a nearby residential area. The gun appeared to jam, and Evans attempted to clear it.
Several other recovered videos are said to capture Evans pointing the handgun at his smartphone camera while recording himself singing along to music in his bedroom.
In one such video, Evans was seen producing al Ziploc bag containing colorful pills before telling the camera, “Hit me up, I got the E-bitters, mobile, you know what’s up, back on my shi*t.”
Officers deduced the pills were likely ecstasy.
During the May 21 hearing, the prosecution offered to move to nolle prosequi, or abandon all charges related to the Jan. 3 discharging incident. In return, they offered Evans a five-year mandatory minimum sentence for the crime of possessing a firearm with a previous disqualifying felony conviction. The maximum penalty for the crime is 15 years, noted Judge LaZette Ringgold-Kirksey. Per the terms of the deal, Evans would also have been required to register to the Maryland Gun Offender Registry, and would not have been eligible for parole during the duration of his sentence.
Defense attorney Sarah West rejected the offer on behalf of Evans. Evans’ assigned attorney, Gabrielle Michel, was reportedly occupied with another matter before Judge Cynthia K. Jones.
The prosecuting attorney assigned to the case was also absent from the hearing due to an undisclosed emergency, so the stand-in prosecution moved to postpone the trial to a date convenient for both parties.
Judge Ringgold-Kirksey ultimately transferred the case to Judge Melissa K. Copeland for a trial date. Evans is slated to return to court July 9 before Judge Nicole K. Barmore for a two-day trial by jury.