Arraignment Rescheduled for Gelston Avenue Murder

By Andrew Michaels - July 21, 2021
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects |

A Baltimore man’s scheduled arraignment for a homicide case on July 21 was pushed to next month.

Martinez Armstrong, 30, was scheduled for an arraignment on Wednesday at 2 p.m. in courtroom 113 in the Mitchell Courthouse. About 30 minutes after the scheduled start time, Judge Melissa M. Copeland informed the courtroom that the arraignment was rescheduled for Aug. 9.

Armstrong is charged with first-degree murder, firearm use in a violent crime, having a handgun on his person, and firearm possession with a felony conviction. According to the Maryland Judiciary website, Armstrong does not currently have a defense attorney.

CBS Baltimore reported that Armstrong allegedly shot and killed 28-year-old Michael Montgomery on the 3700 block of Gelston Avenue on June 11, 2020. Evidence later led Baltimore Police to Armstrong, who was arrested by the Warrant Task Force nearly a year later on May 5, 2021, on the 4700 block of Mt. Hope Drive.

However, the homicide was not Armstrong’s first brush with the law. According to Fox 45, Armstrong was released on mandatory supervision in November 2019 following seven years in prison in connection to the death of a young girl in 2012.

The Baltimore Sun reported that 13-year-old Monae Turnage was accidentally shot and killed in March 2012, by one of two boys playing with a relative’s .22-caliber rifle. The relative was identified as Armstrong, who was later sentenced to eight years for firearm possession with a felony conviction.

Armstrong’s felony charge dated back to his first-degree assault conviction in 2008.