Judge Schedules Homicide Trial in July Despite Defense Hesitation 

By Alyssia Davis [former] - May 19, 2023
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

After a Baltimore resident rejected a plea offer of life in prison, Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa Phinn scheduled a homicide trial for July following defense counsel’s resistance on May 17. 

However, Clipper Jordan’s defense counsel, Jerome Wilson, a stand-in for Isabel Lipman, said Lipman told him she would need time to review all the evidence and wouldn’t be ready for a July trial. She also told Wilson that she recently received a 500-page document that she still needs to go through.

Jordan, 32, and his co-defendant Tyrone Fenner are charged with two counts of first-degree murder, the use of a firearm during a felony violent crime, and having a handgun in a vehicle in connection to the murder of 25-year-old Donte Miller on Nov. 22, 2022.

Jordan rejected a plea of life, suspending all but 40 years with five years of supervised probation for first-degree murder and a concurrent 15 years with the first five years without the possibility of parole for  use of a firearm during a felony violent crime. 

According to a news release, on the day of the incident, officers were called to the 2600 block of E. Hoffman Street for reports of a shooting. On arrival, officers found Miller suffering from a gunshot wound. 

Miller was taken to John Hopkins Hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.

The trial for Jordan and Fenner was scheduled for July 5, with Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Timothy Doory presiding. It is expected to last four days.