Duane Avenue Murder Defendant Gets May Trial Date

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On Dec. 4, a 23-year-old murder defendant rejected a plea offer before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa M. Phinn.

Darius Joyner is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, firearm use in a felony violent crime, conspiracy to use a firearm in a felony violent crime and having a handgun on his person in connection to the Feb. 28 death of Adam White.

The prosecutor offered Joyner a sentence of life, suspending all but 50 years, and five years of supervised probation for first-degree murder and 20 years, the first five years without the possibility of parole, for firearm use in a felony violent crime. Joyner would also be required to register as a gun offender in exchange for his guilty plea. Joyner rejected the offer.

Joyner and his attorney, Karyn Meriwether, will appear at his trial before Judge Videtta A. Brown on May 6, 2024.

According to a Baltimore Police Department press release, officers found 29-year-old White lying on the ground on the 4100 block of Duane Avenue with multiple gunshot wounds to his back. Joyner was arrested for the murder several months later on May 25.