Defendant Takes Plea for Shooting Car Service Employee in 2019

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A Baltimore woman from the Midtown-Edmondson neighborhood accepted a guilty plea for an argument-turned shooting between a car service employee in 2019.

Veronica Jiggetts, 24, was initially scheduled to begin a jury trial on Jan. 4, but chose to move forward with the prosecution’s plea offer before her defense attorney, Ronald Brown, and Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Kendra Ausby. Her initial charges included attempted murder, assault, and several weapons charges.

Under the terms of the plea, Jiggetts will serve 23 years, suspending all but time served, five years of supervised probation for first-degree assault, and a consecutive seven years, the first five years without parole, for firearm use in a felony violent crime. She must also undergo a psychological evaluation, stay away from the victim, and register as a gun offender.

Jiggetts’ family and the victim were present during Wednesday’s proceedings, and the latter declined to provide a victim impact statement.

Brown told Judge Ausby that since the incident on Nov. 16, 2019, Jiggetts has been diagnosed with anxiety and depression and prescribed medication, which has helped significantly with her decision-making process.

The prosecutor informed the court that just before 2:30 a.m., Jiggetts and another woman had called a car service to the 1900 block of Braddish Avenue, where they had an argument with the driver over bringing an open bottle of liquor into the vehicle. The other woman allegedly handed Jiggetts a handgun, which she then used to fire shots at the driver, who began running away.

When Baltimore Police officers were called to the scene, they found the driver nearby with a graze wound to the left side of his back.