Defendant Accused of Marathon Gas Station Shooting Claims Incompetence to Stand Trial After Accepting Alford Plea

By Andrew Michaels , Jaime Chan [former] - August 17, 2023
Court | Daily Stories | Non-Fatal Shooting | Shooting | Suspects |

A non-fatal shooting defendant has claimed incompetent to stand trial, citing a plea of not criminally responsible (NCR) by reason of insanity in connection to a shooting at a Marathon gas station in December 2021.

On Aug. 16, 47-year-old Wayne Wheeler agreed to an Alford plea alongside his defense attorney, Josh Insley, before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Jeannie J. Hong. Wheeler received 10 years incarceration for first-degree assault, a consecutive 10 years, the first five years without parole, for firearm use in a felony or violent crime and an additional consecutive 10 years, the first five years without parole, for firearm possession with a felony conviction.

Under the plea, the defendant must also pay the victim $500, register as a gun offender upon his release and have no contact with any of the prosecution’s witnesses.

Insley filed a notice of incompetence to stand trial and a plea of not criminally responsible (NCR) by reason of insanity that same day. Wheeler’s case will move forward to mental health court before Judge Gale E. Rasin, but a hearing has yet to be scheduled, according to the Maryland Judiciary website.

The incident in question occurred on Dec. 20, 2021, when the four victims were at a Marathon gas station on the 400 block of W. Mulberry Street. According to charging documents, a man—later identified as Wheeler—walked into the gas station and began saying derogatory statements and telling one of the victims to “get your s— and go.” After a brief interaction, the victims told Baltimore Police Department (BPD) officers that Wheeler followed them out of the store, pulled out a handgun and started firing.

During their investigation, police reviewed video surveillance footage from the gas station and saw the argument between the victims and defendant begin inside the store and continue outside. As Wheeler approached their vehicle, one of the victims retrieved a tire jack from the trunk and ran toward the defendant at which time Wheeler took out his handgun and fired two shots before running away.

Wheeler was charged with four counts of first and second-degree assault, two counts of discharging firearms and single counts of firearm use in a felony or violent crime, firearm possession with a felony conviction, illegal possession of a firearm, having a handgun on his person, illegal possession of ammo and malicious destruction of property valued over $1,000.