Sentence Modification in 2019 Murder Case Postponed

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Murder convict Ronald A. Brown, 58, and defense attorney Brandon Taylor appeared before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Lynn S. Mays on July 15 to submit a postponement motion regarding Brown’s efforts to modify his sentence.

On Sept. 20, 2021, Brown was found guilty by jury of second-degree murder and possessing a deadly weapon with the intent to injure. He was sentenced to 25 years for the murder of William Scott, 51, for which he is currently serving time.

According to charging documents, at approximately 5:27 a.m. on Dec. 8, 2019, Baltimore Police Department (BPD) officers responded to the 500 block of N. Payson Street after Scott’s girlfriend reported her significant other was stabbed. The fire department was notified, so that officers could enter through the apartment’s second floor.

Officers observed bloody footprints leading upstairs to a bedroom, where they located Scott in his bed, covered in blood and suffering from numerous apparent stab wounds. Despite medical efforts, he was pronounced deceased at the scene. His girlfriend had not mentioned Scott’s death in her initial contact with police.

In Scott’s bedroom, officers observed another trail of bloody footprints that led into a first-floor apartment belonging to Brown.

In her statement to police, Scott’s girlfriend advised she was in a chronically abusive relationship with Scott. She said Scott left his room on the day of the incident to buy drugs and was absent for about an hour, noticeably longer than normal.

She said she then heard Scott and Brown engage in an argument, which escalated into a physical struggle. Brown allegedly went to his room to get a black carving knife, which Scott’s girlfriend recalled to be five or six inches in length. No weapon was recovered during the investigation.

Judge Mays granted the postponement and reset Brown’s sentence modification hearing to Oct. 15.