Convicted Attempted Murder Defendant Granted Resentence Modification

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

On Nov. 16, a Baltimore man convicted of attempted murder had his motion to be resentenced granted before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Phillip S. Jackson.

Judge Jackson granted the defense counsel’s request and sentenced the defendant to 40 years, suspending all but 20 years with the first five years without the possibility of parole along with five years of supervised probation for first-degree attempted murder and a consecutive 15 years without the possibility of parole for the use of a firearm during a felony violent crime.

On Dec. 20, 2018, Dangelo Wright was convicted of first-degree attempted murder, use of a firearm during a felony violent crime, and having a handgun on his person in connection to an incident April 11, 2017. A verdict was not rendered in the attempted second-degree murder against him. The charges of first and second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, and discharging firearms were not sent to the jury for deliberation.

According to the Baltimore Police Department, Wright is accused of shooting a 22-year-old man in the back of the head on the 4400 block of Park Heights Avenue.

The prosecutor informed the court that he spoke to the victim, his mother, and his brother, telling them about his plan to resentence the defendant. He noted that the victim did not want to be present in court for this hearing.

The prosecutor read an impact statement from the victim describing how his life has changed since being shot, claiming “he has suffered from seizures, has been unable to work, and now lives with his mother. As well as continuing to have a bullet fragment in his head.”

The prosecutor suggested that the defendant’s sentence be modified to 40 years, suspending all but 20 years, the first five years without parole with five years supervised probation for first-degree attempted murder. With the modification, the defendant and his family would have to stay away from the victim and the victim’s family, and he must register as a gun offender.

Wright’s defense attorney Gabriel Ellenberger asked the court to go along with the prosecutor’s reassessment. Although her client was 19 years old at the time of the incident, he doesn’t deny what he did, Ellenberger said.

The defense claimed that while Wright was incarcerated, he was dealing with his lymphoma diagnosis in the middle of the pandemic in 2020. He is currently in remission, Ellenberger said.

Since Wright has been incarcerated, he‘s been doing very well reported his attorney. She said he has been participating in a program for offenders and this sentence change would give Wright the opportunity to finish that program.

The defendant says he is a very different person now than he was in the past, said Ellenberger.

Follow this case