Three months after his previous jury trial ended in a hung jury, murder defendant Jason Williams received a March 2026 retrial date during a reception court hearing before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa M. Phinn on Nov. 21. Williams, 37, is charged with first-degree murder and several firearm violations in connection to the murder of Solomon Wise, 58, on Nov. 3, 2024. Wise was pronounced deceased minutes after midnight on the 4200 block of Sheldon Avenue in East Baltimore’s Belair-Edison neighborhood.In August, Williams successfully moved to dismiss his court-appointed attorney, Jerry Rodriguez, citing strategic differences and alleging that Rodriguez omitted critical evidence from his defense. Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Michael A.DiPietro granted the request after determining that Williams understood the risks and was capable of representing himself. Williams grew agitated several times while defending himself,e raising his voice while cross-examining police witnesses, challenging interpretations of surveillance footage, and asserting that authorities misidentified him as the shooter. During closing arguments, he also accused the state’s medical examiner, whose report confirmed that Wise was shot in the back of the neck at close range, demonstrated bias in aiding the investigation.Following the mistrial, Williams sought a 90-day postponement in his case during an Aug. 18 reception court hearing, hoping to obtain new defense counsel. Judge Melissa K. Copeland approved the postponement, but informed Williams he was unlikely to proceed to retrial before 2026.
Williams is now set to be represented by public defender Gregory Fischer during a four-day jury trial before Judge Jeffrey M.Geller, with proceedings slated to begin on March 2, 202
