Judge Denies Bail to Baltimore Man Due to the Seriousness of His Crime 

By Alyssia Davis [former] - September 22, 2022
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects |

A 20-year-old homicide defendant was denied bail on Sept. 20 due to the seriousness of the allegations against him, according to Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Jeannie Hong. 

Isaiah Bell is charged with first-degree murder and use of a firearm during a felony violent crime in connection to an incident on April 19.

Bell is accused of allegedly fatally shooting an unidentified man in the chest and neck.

Bell’s defense counsel Martin Cohen, a stand-in for Benjamin Charlton, informed the court that Bell was a lifelong resident of Baltimore and lives with his mother and sister. Cohen said Bell has been in the Roca program, which works with youth traumatized by urban violence, since he was 16, receiving his high school diploma in the process. Cohen added that Bell is enrolled in a welding trade school and has held a job for the past eight months. 

Bell is currently in confinement with an additional pending second-degree assault charge in Howard County. 

Due to the pending case, the prosecution requested that the defendant be held without bail.

“The victim’s mother does have compassion for the defendant, but it’s taken months to have that compassion, but she doesn’t believe that the defendant should be released,” said the prosecutor.

The Howard county assault happened less than a month after the shooting. The defendant’s girlfriend filed a complaint with police that she later admitted to falsifying. 

Bell does not have any prior convictions, but he had encounters with the law in 2021, said his defense attorney. All cases ended in a nolle pros, he said.

Judge Hong ruled that due to the nature of the charges against the defendant, bail would be denied.