Just several hours after counsel delivered closing arguments in a weeklong murder trial, jurors found Bryan Cherry, 36, guilty of all charges on April 17 before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Kimberly McBride.
Cherry was convicted of first-degree murder and use of a deadly weapon for wielding a 2-foot long crowbar to kill 38-year-old Sierra Johnson in July 2024, at a residence on the 800 block of Abbott Court. The defendant also recently pleaded guilty to murdering a mother and daughter in Middle River, Maryland the same month he killed Johnson.
In an official release, State’s Attorney Ivan J. Bates commended the prosecution for securing the conviction and affirmed his office’s commitment to seeking a sentence of life without parole.
“This conviction, alongside his prior conviction for attempted murder in our city and his guilty plea to a double murder in Baltimore County, paints a clear and alarming picture of a defendant who poses an ongoing and severe threat to our communities,” Bates said. “We remain steadfast in our commitment to holding the most dangerous offenders accountable and ensuring they are never again in a position to inflict such devastating harm.”
Charging documents state Johnson was found lifeless in the living room of the home. Photographs showed her head tilted to the side, her grey sweatpants ripped and pulled down, and her tank top soaked in her own blood.
“I wore her ass out,” Cherry told one of the three main witnesses.
At the time of the incident, Cherry was wearing black clothing and a black ski mask. One of the witnesses said he had a burgundy splatter on his clothes, and his backpack had bloody pants, bloody shoes and the crowbar.
During closing statements, the state explained to the jurors that investigators found no DNA underneath Johnson’s fingernails, meaning it was unlikely she fought back against Cherry. The state noted she had a small amount of fentanyl in her system, which could have affected her movement.
The front door was the only point of entry to the residence. When police arrived, they knocked for several minutes, but nobody answered. Surveillance footage captured Cherry jumping out of his back second-floor window with a bright, mainly green but multicolored shirt. The state mentioned that upon fleeing the scene, Cherry left his backpack filled with evidence at the scene of the crime.
“It couldn’t have been anyone else,” the state’s attorney said.
Defense attorney Gregory Fischer maintained that investigators’ failure to conduct intensive DNA testing played a factor in the case.
“Something does not add up,” Fischer said.
He argued that police jumped to conclusions, neglected evidence at the scene, and took statements from a witness who used drugs and a woman previously convicted of theft. Fischer noted that at the time, one of the three witnesses was fighting her own case, and that she was subsequently found guilty for making a false statement for a previous incident.
Fischer said the witness was “regurgitating and embellishing” information, and claimed she was lying when she heard screaming outside. He argued that Cherry had no motive for the killing.
He also questioned how Cherry would have been able to emerge so quickly and with clean clothes from the “blood-soaked” scene if he killed Johnson The state’s attorney countered this argument by noting Cherry had about 90 minutes to clean himself up.
Fischer ended his statement by emphasizing “probably” is not proof beyond a reasonable doubt. The state, on the other hand, contended the case was solved long before DNA was even tested.
Jurors ultimately sided with the state, convicting Cherry of both charges.
A sentencing date for Johnson’s murder has yet to be scheduled.
