The case against 19-year-old Daaon Spears reached its 11th day of trial on Feb. 25, with the prosecution continuing to present witnesses and evidence before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Lynn Stewart Mays.
Spears faces 31 charges for his alleged role in a mass shooting, which occurred Jan. 4, 2023 on the 4400 block of Edmondson Avenue. The incident left 16-year-old Deanta Dorsey dead and four other students wounded. Though Spears was initially tried in October 2024 for his offenses, which include two counts of first-degree murder and five counts of attempted first-degree murder, proceedings ultimately ended in a mistrial.
His co-defendant, 19-year-old Bryan Johnson, has been charged in a separate 30-count indictment and is awaiting a trial date.
Before the jury entered the courtroom, the prosecution moved to admit a video clip from investigators’ initial interview with Johnson’s mother, explaining that it contradicted her testimony at trial. She told investigators at the time of the interview that she was sober, but claimed on the stand that she had taken several shots of alcohol, smoked marijuana and ingested a Percocet prior to speaking with detectives. Judge Mays granted the motion to admit the footage, but denied another motion concerning a clip from the same interview, as well as one conducted with Spears’ mother.
Later in proceedings, the case’s lead detective testified about surveillance footage collected from multiple locations near the scene of the shooting. Though prosecutors claimed the footage helps establish a timeline of events before and after the incident, Judge Mays sustained several objections from defense attorney Brandon Taylor regarding the admission of various clips.
The trial, which was initially scheduled to conclude Feb. 20, is now set to continue through Feb. 26.
