Homicide Defendant Rejects Plea of 40 Years, Set for Trial in 2023

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A 29-year-old Baltimore man charged with first-degree murder had his trial scheduled for January 2023 after rejecting a plea offer before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa M. Phinn on June 7. 

Cristino Flores-Perez is charged with first-degree murder and use of a deadly weapon with intent to injure in connection to an incident on Sept. 15, 2019. 

During Tuesday’s proceedings, Judge Phinn listened as the prosecutor presented a plea of life, suspending all but 40 years, for first-degree murder. 

Perez and his defense attorney, Antonios Heper, rejected the plea.

According to Fox 45, Jesse Perez and Flores-Perez were acquaintances and engaged in a verbal altercation around 2:30 a.m. the night of the incident. The dispute turned violent when Flores-Perez allegedly stabbed the victim multiple times. 

Officers with the Baltimore Police Department responded to the attack and took the victim to Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. 

Perez’s trial is scheduled for Jan. 10, 2023, and is expected to last three days before Judge Kendra Ausby.