Bail Postponed for Attempted Murder Defendant Due to Quarantine

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

A 21-year-old Baltimore man facing a retrial for attempted murder was absent from a bail review hearing on Dec. 20 due to quarantine, according to his defense counsel.

Defense attorney Robert Linthicum did not provide further information during Tuesday’s proceedings but requested his client, Delmel Johnson, return to Baltimore City Circuit Court for the first bail review of the new year on Jan. 4, 2023.

Judge Philip Jackson granted the defense counsel’s request.

Johnson is accused of opening fire on a family of four who was on their way home from Christmas shopping at Mondawmin Mall on Dec. 9, 2018. An opinion from the Court of Special Appeals states that the family was in their vehicle at a red light when a man got out of a nearby car, pointed a gun at the victim who was driving the vehicle and demanded he get out of the car.

The suspect, later identified as Johnson, then fired five to seven gunshots into the vehicle and drove away.

Two victims, a father and his daughter, were treated for gunshot wounds at a hospital.

The Maryland Judiciary website states that Johnson was convicted of attempted first-degree murder in December 2019 and sentenced to 70 years, suspending all but 30 years, and five years of supervised probation last year. However, his case was remanded back to court, the opinion notes, due to the defendant’s absence during a motions hearing, which violates a defendant’s rights during a jury trial.

Following Johnson’s bail review next month, he is scheduled to appear in reception court on March 15, 2023.

Follow this case