Security Guard Acquitted in Highlandtown Bar Murder

Thank you for reading Baltimore Witness. Help us continue our mission into 2024.

On Dec. 15, Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Myshala E. Middleton presided as the jury read their verdict in the case of a security guard who shot and killed a bar patron in Highlandtown.

Keith Mario Luckey, 40, was acquitted of all charges in connection to the killing of 35-year-old Kevin Abel Torres Guerrero on Nov. 7, 2022.

In closing statements that morning, Luckey’s attorney Lawrence Rosenberg argued his client acted in self-defense, as Guerrero had already thrown a brick at him and was about to throw a second one. The prosecution countered that Luckey firing six times exceeded self-defense, framing Luckey’s actions as “out of anger” instead of fear for his own life.

District Court of Maryland documents state that a crowd of people were in distress when Baltimore Police Department officers arrived at Chris T Bar on the 3900 block of Lombard Street. Guerrero was bleeding from a gunshot wound to the chest and later died of his injuries at Johns Hopkins Bayview Hospital. Surveillance footage from the scene revealed that Luckey had sprayed Guerrero with mace outside of the bar before resorting to using his firearm.