Defendant Takes 15-Year Plea for Friend’s Murder on Griffis Avenue

By Andrew Michaels - August 22, 2023
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

A 27-year-old Baltimore man accused of fatally shooting his friend was sentenced to 15 years incarceration on Aug. 21 when he accepted a plea offer from the prosecution.

Carlos James Pearson was facing charges of second-degree murder, firearm use in a felony or violent crime and disposing of a body as well as three counts of altering physical evidence at a crime scene in connection to the murder of 23-year-old Quincy Harris on Sept. 25, 2022.

The defendant and his defense attorney, John Cox, sat before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Gregory Sampson on Monday morning as the prosecutor shared her offer of 40 years, suspending all but 15 years, for second-degree murder and 20 years, suspending all but five years without parole, and five years of supervised probation for firearm use in a felony or violent crime.

Under the plea, Pearson is also required to register as a gun offender when he is released.

Before sentencing the defendant, Judge Sampson explained the reason behind Pearson’s sentence to Harris’ family who sat in the gallery. The judge said it would have been “hard to prove” the defendant’s guilt of first or second-degree murder had the case gone to a jury and chances of a manslaughter conviction would have also been what he described as “a coin flip.”

“We have a fascination with handguns that’s ridiculous,” Judge Sampson continued, adding that Harris’ senseless death happened because the two friends were drinking and did not know how to control their behavior.

According to charging documents, Pearson and Harris were fighting over a gun inside of a house on the 1900 block of Griffis Avenue. Once Pearson had the handgun, he then allegedly shot Harris five times, later moving the victim’s body to the back seat of the latter’s car.

While Cox informed the court that Pearson’s family hoped this incident would not define him, Pearson apologized to Harris’ family.

“I’m very sorry for everything that happened that day,” he said. “It was a big mistake that went too, too far.”