Baltimore Man Sentenced to 10 Years for Homicide While on Probation for Murder Nearly Two Decades Ago

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On July 9, a Baltimore resident was sentenced to 10 years in the Baltimore City Circuit Court for killing a man while on probation for a murder nearly two decades ago. During a collateral hearing before Judge Robert K. Taylor, Jr., the defendant called the incident a “misunderstanding.”

The Baltimore Sun reported that Darrian Carroll, 34, pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court of Maryland on Dec. 2, 2019, to discharging a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime that led to the death of 21-year-old Deondre Johnson on the 4600 block of Park Heights Avenue that February.

At the time of the incident, Carroll had been on probation due to his involvement in a homicide on Dec. 21, 2004.

During the hearing on Friday, the prosecution said Carroll was sentenced to 220 months in federal prison on June 28.

The prosecution recommended that Judge Taylor give Carroll the maximum sentence of 15 years for violating his probation. He said consecutive time was appropriate because of Carroll’s “egregious” crime and previous second-degree murder conviction.

Carroll’s defense attorney, Brandon Thornton, disagreed with the prosecutor and asked the court for “as much leniency as possible.” Thornton said that Carroll had, for the most part, no criminal offenses while on probation.

Thornton added that Carroll explained to him that the killing was due to a “misunderstanding.” For these reasons, Thornton asked Judge Taylor for a sentence that would run concurrently to Carroll’s time in federal prison.

Carroll also said he had apologized to the victim’s family members.

“It was an accident,” he told the court.

Judge Taylor sentenced Carroll to 10 years consecutive to his federal time. Taylor noted that Carroll must serve five years of his sentence before becoming eligible for parole.

According to the Baltimore Sun, Johnson and an unnamed associate were selling marijuana in the area of Wylie Avenue and Park Avenue on Feb. 22, 2019, when a man known as “RH” began circling the block.

Recognizing RH as a rival drug trafficker, Carroll became worried that the man would try to rob him. Carroll’s associate confronted RH while Carroll approached the other occupants in the vehicle.

Carroll noticed RH had a firearm and wrestled it away from him and the two passengers, one of them later identified as Johnson.

According to the 2019 plea agreement, neither Johnson nor the other passenger was armed.

As the group ran away, Carroll and his associate fired their weapons, striking Johnson multiple times. Johnson died from his injuries after being taken to a local hospital, according to CBS Baltimore.

Carroll was previously sentenced on Aug. 30, 2005, to 30 years, suspending all but 15, with five years of supervised probation, for second-degree murder and using a handgun to commit a crime. He had also originally been charged with first-degree murder.

Although originally scheduled for Jan. 8, the hearing for Carroll’s probation violation was postponed to Friday because he had been quarantining for COVID-19.