Following closing arguments on March 11, a second mistrial was declared in the case of 56-year-old Craig Williams after a Baltimore jury failed to reach a unanimous decision on the majority of the defendant’s charges.
While the jury found Williams guilty of one firearm charge, no verdict was reached on his remaining charges, which include attempted murder, assault, reckless endangerment, and several other gun offenses. Defense attorney Michael J. Tomko confirmed the mistrial declaration with Baltimore Witness.
Williams was being retried in the Baltimore City Circuit Court before Judge Lawrence R. Daniels after a prior trial held before Judge Jennifer B. Schiffer last December also ended in a hung jury.
Testimony during the trial centered on a long-running dispute between Williams and the victim, his brother-in-law. The victim told jurors the two men had argued several times in the past, and that Williams had accused the victim multiple times of entering his bedroom without permission. Charging documents state that on Nov. 25, 2024, a similar argument resulted in the victim being shot at their shared home on the 1100 block of Scott Street.
According to the victim’s testimony, he had been standing on the home’s second floor near the top of the staircase when Williams confronted him, accusing him of entering his room.
The victim testified that after he denied the accusation, Williams claimed he was “tired of this sh*t” and fired several shots, striking the victim’s shoulder and rear.
Police later recovered rifle casings and blood evidence inside the home, according to charging documents.
A retrial has been scheduled for June 29 before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Cynthia H. Jones.
