One defendant charged with fatally beating and robbing his victim turned down a prosecution plea offer, instead choosing to stand trial in a reception court appearance before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa K. Copeland on Sept. 4.
Jalen William Brawner, 27, is charged with first-degree murder, robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, first-degree assault as well as conspiracy to assault.
According to the police affidavit early on on the morning of May 26, 2024, the victim, Marcus LeVon Brown, 40,entered a Royal Farms store on the 1500 block of Russell Street and withdrew cash from an ATM. When he left he became involved in an argument with two suspects who parked their vehicles at nearby gas pumps. During the incident, Brown was beaten severely in the head, then taken to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center where he was pronounced dead from blunt force trauma.
Specifically, police say Brown was “violently shoved to the ground and was subsequently kicked, stomped, and punched by both suspects while he remained on the ground” and his pockets were rifled.
The suspects allegedly fled to the downtown Horseshoe Casino where a combination of required identification and surveillance footage led to the arrest of two suspects, Brown and Khalel Edward Strong-Council as the alleged perpetrators. Strong-Council was found not guilty on March 25, 2025.
Brawner, meanwhile, was offered a plea deal life suspending all but 50 years with five years supervised release. Responding on Brawner’s behalf, attorney Brandon Taylor turned down the offer in lieu of a trial.
One complication is that a key witness is being held by an out-of-state detainer but given the timely request he should be available to appear, according to the prosecutor. Taylor added that he might request a motions hearing because of the “voluminous” amount of evidence in the case, although Judge Copeland was skeptical given how much material already provided.
She estimated the jury trial would take about four days and set the date for Nov. 2 before Judge Hope Tipton.
