Before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Lynn Stewart Mays, Terrill Johnson, 26, accepted a negotiated plea agreement on Aug. 4 in connection with the 2022 fatal shooting of 19-year-old Adrian Morris.
According to previous trial testimony, the murder occurred April 28, 2022, outside a liquor store on the 5300 block of Belair Road. During Johnson’s 2023 trial, defense attorney Stephanie Salter argued Johnson acted in self-defense as well as of others including, his girlfriend, his infant daughter, and a young child, after Morris allegedly threatened the group. A jury ultimately found Johnson guilty of voluntary manslaughter and firearm offenses while acquitting him of second-degree murder.
Johnson, represented by defense attorney Stephanie Salter, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and use of a handgun in the commission of a felony or violent crime. This was after a jury found Johnson guilty of manslaughter but the plea was an effort to gain more favorable terms at sentencing.
Prior to proceedings, members of the victim’s family were informed that Johnson intended to accept a plea agreement; the state added that this would allow him to serve a less severe sentence. Family members expressed dissatisfaction with this resolution, stating it was “not justice,” before being asked to step outside the courtroom to discuss the agreement.
The state presented the negotiated plea agreement to the court before Salter confirmed Johnson understood he was waiving his constitutional rights, including his right to a jury trial, a court trial before a judge, and the right to continue to trial. Johnson acknowledged that he understood.
Under the terms of the plea, Johnson received a sentence of 15 years for voluntary manslaughter, suspending all but eight years, and eight years for use of a handgun in the commission of a felony or violent crime. The sentences will run concurrently. Johnson must serve the first five years without the possibility of parole and, upon release, will be placed on five years of supervised probation.
Following acceptance of the plea, the state summarized the evidence it would have presented at trial in support of the charges.
