Three men charged in a fatal January home invasion will be tried together after a Baltimore judge rejected a defense motion to separate the eldest co-defendant’s case from the two teenagers named as co-conspirators
28-year-old Keishonne Moore, 18-year-old Dasean Tristen Williams, and 19-year-old Derrick Williams are charged with conspiracy, first-degree murder, home invasion, armed robbery, and multiple gun violations in connection to a fatal Jan. 14 shooting that resulted in the death of 36-year-old Davon Johnson. dead inside a home on the 1700 block of E. 25th Street.
On May 15, the state’s attorney claimed the trio forced their way into the home, “guns ablazing.” While Dasean and Derrick brandished firearms, she said Moore began to search the pockets of the men inside the home. One of the victims was reportedly pistol-whipped.
Footage from inside the home, which the state’s attorney called “a squat house” and “a drug house,” showed the confrontation escalating rapidly. It was Dasean who delivered the fatal gunshot, she said, and the incident occurred within “a matter of minutes.”
Moore’s defense attorney, Deborah Warner-Dennis, argued that Moore was “a minor player” in the violence that day. “My client did not have a weapon, did not assault anyone,” she told Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey M. Geller.
Warner-Dennis noted the actions of Moore’s co-defendants could “be problematic and prejudicial” to her client and voiced concerns that Moore’s older age would lead jurors to assume he acted as “a ringleader” in the home invasion.
The state pushed for a joint trial, citing “judicial economy” and arguing that all three defendants not only participated in the invasion, but that they also admitted their involvement to police upon arrest. Derrick admitted to being armed that afternoon, while Dasean admitted to shooting Johnson. Moore admitted involvement as well, telling detectives he had been “running their pockets.”
Judge Geller ultimately rejected Warner-Dennis’ argument and ruled that the cases will be tried together. He then sent parties to reception court to receive a trial date before Judge Melissa K. Copeland.
The co-defendants and their attorneys are now set to return to reception court next Monday, May 18, to further discuss trial scheduling.
Dasean is represented by defense attorney Martin Cohen, and Derrick is represented by defense attorney John Deros.
