Codefendants Sentenced for Shooting Charges After Being Found Not Guilty of 2020 Murder

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On Aug. 4, two codefendants were sentenced for weapons charges after being found not guilty for murder charges in a previous trial before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Charles H. Dorsey III. 

Mizell Taylor, represented by Lawrence Rosenberg, was sentenced to 25 years for first-degree assault, 20 years with the first five without the possibility of parole for the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony violent crime and three years for having a handgun on his person. All charges are to run consecutively.

Charles Baldwin, represented by Brandon Mead, was sentenced to five years for reckless endangerment. 

Both of the defendants were found not guilty of two counts of first-degree murder during their retrial on June 1, 2023. However, Taylor, 22, was found guilty of two counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony violent crime, first-degree assault, reckless endangerment and having a handgun on his person. Baldwin, 24, was found guilty of reckless endangerment.

According to court documents, Baltimore Police Department officers responded to a shooting on the 700 block of Grantley Avenue, where there were two shooting victims, 23-year-old Diamond Davis and 23-year-old Pedro Chesley. Witnesses and video surveillance were able to identify Taylor and Baldwin as suspects. 

According to Judge Dorsey’s retelling of the incident details during Friday’s hearing, the entire issue had begun over an altercation between Taylor’s girlfriend and Davis on social media. 

Taylor was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony violent crime, first-degree assault, reckless endangerment and having a handgun on his person.

Baldwin was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and reckless endangerment in connection to the incident that occurred on Nov. 21, 2020.

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