Baltimore Man Accepts Plea in Lexington Market Shooting

By Andrew Michaels - August 18, 2021
Court | Daily Stories | Non-Fatal Shooting | Shooting |

A Baltimore man allegedly involved in an attempted murder last year accepted a plea offer on Aug. 18 before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa M. Phinn.

Jaquan Vastion, 29, was charged with two counts each of attempted first and second-degree murder, first and second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, and carrying a concealed handgun. He also faced charges of firearm use in a violent crime, having a handgun on his person, having a handgun in a vehicle, discharging firearms, and carrying a handgun 100 yards.

On Wednesday, the prosecution presented a plea offer of 25 years, suspending all but six years, for first-degree assault; 25 years, suspending all but six years, for another count of first-degree assault; six years, the first five years without the possibility of parole, for firearm use in a violent crime; and one year with five years of supervised probation upon release for discharging firearms.

All sentences will run concurrently.

Defense attorney Roya Hanna and her client accepted the plea, which also requires Vastion to stay away from the victim and location of the shooting and register as a gun offender.

The victim was not present during the hearing; however, Vastion said he apologized for carrying a handgun and committing the crime and asked for forgiveness.

According to the prosecutor, officers responded to reports of a shooting around 1:30 p.m. on March 21, 2020, along the 200 block of N. Paca Street by Lexington Market, where they found a woman with a gunshot wound to her back. She was taken to Shock Trauma for treatment.

A Maryland Transportation Authority bus driver, who witnessed the incident, told detectives a gunshot was heard and a man wearing a black face mask was seen running away toward the corner of W. Saratoga and N. Paca streets.

The prosecutor said the detectives interviewed the victim at the hospital on March 23 and were given a brief description of the man, including his skin color, weight, and height.

During the investigation, detectives reviewed video surveillance from the area and saw the man who matched the suspect’s description running into an alley off of W. Mulberry Street and toward N. Eutaw Street, where he entered a vehicle. Detectives later found and saw the man exit the same vehicle, which was captured on video surveillance in the area.

Once the man was identified as Vastion, detectives executed search warrants on both the vehicle and his residence on March 26, finding a .40 caliber black handgun, the prosecutor said.

When interviewed by detectives, Vastion said he was receiving threatening phone calls from an unknown person and went to N. Paca Street to talk to his cousin, who Vastion said he believed was in danger. Near Lexington Market, Vastion alleged that a man told him to remove his black mask and he refused, allegedly revealing a handgun to scare the man.

The prosecution said a shot was fired and struck the female victim.