Shooting Defendant Accepts Plea Deal

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A Baltimore man involved in a non-fatal shooting accepted a plea offer on Oct. 22 before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa M. Phinn.

The 38-year-old defendant is charged with possession of a firearm with a felony conviction, possession of a firearm with drugs, having a handgun in a vehicle, discharging firearms, illegal possession of ammo, and a traffic violation in connection to an incident on Oct. 13, 2020.

Judge Phinn listened as the prosecutor presented a plea of five years, suspending all but time served, with two years supervised probation. The defendant must also register as a gun offender for his possession of firearms charge and was sentenced to a concurrent time served for having a handgun in a vehicle.

The defendant and his defense attorney, Shomari Taylor, accepted the plea.

According to the prosecution, on Oct. 13, 2020 at approximately 12:45 p.m., an officer in a marked police vehicle saw the driver of a 2006 Acura sitting in the middle of the 2600 block of Nigelda Street, an area well known for drug trafficking. When the officer drove down the street, the car turned onto Jefferson Street.

Officers turned on their lights and siren in an attempt to signal the driver to stop so they could issue a citation; however, the driver of the car, later identified as the defendant, ignored them and led police on a car chase for a few blocks. The chase made its way to the 2300 block of Nigelda Street, where the defendant parked the car and ran to hide behind a nearby parked car.

Police found the defendant and placed him into custody, they found that the defendant was hiding crack cocaine. The police also searched his vehicle and found more evidence in plain sight as well as a .357 revolver on the driver’s floorboard.

The defendant admitted to knowingly being in possession of a gun, which violated his prior conviction of being prohibited from possession of any firearms.