Voluntary Manslaughter Convict Continues Mental Health Treatment

By Andrew Michaels - September 15, 2021
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Victims |

A Baltimore man who violated probation in connection to a guilty plea of voluntary manslaughter returned to mental health court for a status hearing on Sept. 15 at Baltimore City Circuit Court.

Melvin Russell, 34, accepted a plea of time served for voluntary manslaughter in December 2016 and served approximately one year and four months with five years of supervised probation. However, Russell pleaded guilty to violating probation in September 2020.

Russell’s case was assigned to mental health court as part of his plea, and he has appeared before Judge Gale E. Rasin multiple times since the violation.

The son of a former Baltimore Police Commissioner, Russell has a documented history of schizophrenia and engaged in a fight with his 49-year-old roommate, Theophilus Ruffin, on Aug. 31, 2015. While both suffered multiple stab wounds, Ruffin was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

On Wednesday, Judge Rasin said she has a bench warrant for Russell, but that if he “follows the rules, I think that warrant is just going to sit in front of me.”

“It’s a touch-and-go, day-to-day, week-to-week situation,” Judge Rasin told Russell and defense attorney Sharon Bogins Eberhart. “From my perspective, no news is good news.”

Russell is expected to return to mental health court next week for another hearing.

The defendant has previously informed the court that he is undergoing treatment and is acting in a film.