Defendant to Serve 45 Years After Accepting Pleas for Homicide and 2 Attempted Murders

By Baltimore Witness staff - June 13, 2022
Attempted Murder | Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Non-Fatal Shooting | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

A 21-year-old man accused of two attempted murders and a homicide over 10 days last year will serve 45 years in prison after accepting plea offers on June 13.

Daquan Murphy appeared in Baltimore City Circuit Court before Judge Yolanda Tanner alongside his defense attorney, Euphus Belu-John, on Monday when the prosecution presented him with plea offers in three separate cases.

According to the prosecutor, the defendant is charged with two attempted murders in connection to two separate incidents on Feb. 1, 2021, and Feb. 8, 2021. These incidents are in addition to an armed carjacking and homicide on Feb. 10, 2021.

In the homicide case, the prosecutor presented a plea of life, suspending all but 45 years, and five years on probation for first-degree murder; and five years without parole for firearm use in a felony violent crime. The sentences are set to run concurrently.

The Randallstown resident was also offered two separate concurrent pleas each of 70 years, suspending all but 40, and five years on probation for two attempted first-degree murders.  Murphy, who accepted the pleas, must register as a gun offender and stay away from the surviving victims and their families.

The first incident occurred around 10:15 p.m. on the 1400 block of Kingsway Road where Murphy allegedly shot someone multiple times. Baltimore Police Department officers later found the victim  with four gunshot wounds on the 5200 block of Loch Raven Boulevard.

A police investigation revealed that the victim was attending a party at a residence, the prosecutor said. Someone at that party alerted Murphy when the victim was leaving. Murphy then allegedly approached the victim, who was outside in his vehicle, and soon began firing a handgun at the vehicle.

A week later, Murphy and two unidentified suspects approached a victim, demanding his car keys around 10:20 p.m. on the 900 block of E. Jeffrey Street. One of the suspects then shot the victim in the head.

A third shooting was reported two days later on Feb. 10, 2021, when officers found Marcus Bentely on his back laying in the street with a gunshot wound to his chest on the 3400 block of E. Lombard Street.

Bentely was pronounced dead shortly after 11 a.m.

Video surveillance footage of the incident showed the driver, later identified as Murphy, and two other unidentified suspects in a white Toyota. The group allegedly pulled up to the victim and one of the suspects shot the victim and drove off.

Murphy told police he was the getaway driver and stole the car in an armed carjacking earlier that day. The armed carjacking case was dismissed as part of the plea agreements.

Bentely’s wife and sister both provided victim impact statements during Monday’s proceedings. Bentely’s wife informed the court that she lost her best friend whom she was married to for 14 years.

“He was our protector. He was our provider,” she said before looking at the defendant and saying, “I pray God have mercy on your soul.”

The victim’s sister said she didn’t know “what devil you had in you that whole month,” referring to the multiple attempted homicides prior to her brother’s death. She also added that their mother died of a heart attack 11 days after Bentely’s death.

“His actions killed two people,” she said. “Jail ain’t going to do nothing for him.”