The trial of a Baltimore man accused of fatally shooting another man in the head in 2020 continued on Oct. 29 before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Althea M. Handy, with counsel delivering opening statements before a panel of jurors.
Donnell Johnson, 34, is charged with first-degree murder, firearm use in a felony crime of violence, and having a handgun in his vehicle and on his person in connection to the Sept. 10, 2020 death of Kenneth Bivens, 27. Bivens was shot in the head while fleeing from a physical altercation that allegedly unfolded between him and Johnson on the 1100 block of Beaumont Avenue. Two days later, Bivens succumbed to his injuries.
The prosecution called Johnson a “man who brought a gun to a fistfight” and claimed he “took advantage of what we’d call an easy mark” when he shot the fleeing victim. This is not the first time Johnson faces criminal charges; he was previously convicted of armed robbery in 2011.
Bivens was a graduate of St. Frances Academy, a private Catholic middle and high school in Central Baltimore’s Johnston Square neighborhood. He pursued higher education at the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore, but returned home to his family before graduating. He “loved Baltimore,” the prosecution explained.
After returning to Baltimore, he began working for the Maryland Department of Health, and maintained a job at the Spring Grove Hospital Center in Catonsville. In his death, the prosecution said, he left behind many loved ones, including his parents and numerous friends, nephews, and nieces.
Defense attorney Natalie A. Finegar, meanwhile, maintained confidence that jurors can expect to find Johnson not guilty of murdering Bivens.
The trial is expected to continue with testimony from expert witnesses.
