Six months after pleading guilty to what the prosecution called the “cold, calculated and deliberate” murder of 38-year-old Ondrell Mayo, Paul “Hitman” Artis has been sentenced to life, suspending all but 60 years.
Charging documents describe how on Aug. 1, 2024, the 29-year-old defendant pulled up to the 900 block of E. Patapsco Avenue in a Mercedes-Benz coupe and fired several gunshots at the victim’s body and head. Five days after the fatal shooting, Artis reportedly turned himself into Baltimore Police headquarters and placed himself at the scene of the crime.
During the Jan. 14 sentencing hearing, Mayo’s mother and aunt described how the loss “profoundly and permanently damaged” their lives, drastically affecting their sense of safety in the world.
“That pain is something I will live with forever,” said Mayo’s mother.
Last June, Artis’ co-defendant, Viola Poole, was sentenced to 10 years, suspending all but three, for her role as an accessory to Mayo’s murder. At Artis’ sentencing, the proseutor described how Poole refused to identify the defendant from a photographic array due to fear of retaliation.
“She said, and I quote, ‘I would rather my kids come see me in jail than see me in a casket,’” the state’s attorney read to the court, describing Artis as a clear danger to others. She urged the court to hand the defendant a sentence of life, suspending all but 60 years, the first five to be served without parole. Upon release, she requested that Artis be required to serve five years of supervised probation and register as a gun offender.
While the state’s attorney accused Artis of submitting “excuse after excuse for his actions,” including claims that a cocktail of drugs he took the morning of the incident caused him to act with “clouded and irrational judgment,” defense attorney Michael Cohen argued that Artis was at heart a “kind, humanity-based person” whose traumatic childhood gave way to undiagnosed mental health struggles and attempts to self-medicate with street narcotics.
Cohen described a history of “abandonment, abuse, homelessness and instability” inflicted on Artis from a young age by his drug addicted parents, and argued that his client’s admission of guilt demonstrated a willingness to take responsibility for his actions. Following his argument, he urged the court to consider allowing Artis to serve his sentence at a treatment-oriented correctional facility.
“After serious contemplation, after serious help and treatment through the Patuxent Institution, I do believe my client will be able to live an effective life,” Cohen said. “My recommendation recognizes that treatment and public safety are not mutually exclusive.”
Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey M. Geller, however, pushed back against Artis’ argument that the drugs he took that morning influenced him to murder Mayo in what he called “a horrific situation.”
“The excuses don’t really help,” said Judge Geller, agreeing with the state’s attorney. He noted that surveillance footage recovered from the area of the incident showed Artis appearing to act clearly, with no signs that he was under the influence.
“There’s a calculated process going on there,” he continued, calling Artis “a man of contradiction.” An 18-page pre-sentencing report also discredited Artis’ claims that his various mental health diagnoses caused him to “hear voices” in his head, finding that what the defendant described was simply consistent with having an internal monologue.
Though Judge Geller ultimately sided with the prosecution’s sentencing request, he agreed to accept Cohen’s request to recommend Artis to the Patuxent Institution.
Artis will have 90 days to request a modification to his sentence.
