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By
Sophia Strocko [former]
- July 17, 2024
Court
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Daily Stories
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Homicides
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Shooting
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Victims
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The trial of a man accused of murder did not proceed as scheduled before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge John A. Howard on July 16 due to a last-minute dismissal of defense counsel.
Kevin Griggs, 31, is charged with felony counts for first-degree murder and firearm possession with a felony conviction and misdemeanor counts for firearm use in a felony violent crime and having a handgun on his person in connection to the Feb. 10, 2023, shooting of 44-year-old Melvin Cummings.
On July 15, just one day before his scheduled trial in front of Judge Howard, Griggs appeared before Judge Melissa K. Copeland in reception court.
According to Judge Howard, Griggs dismissed his defense attorney, James Sweeting III, and is seeking new counsel.
Court documents state that on Feb. 10, 2023, witnesses saw two individuals dressed in all black with face masks shoot Cummings on the 4100 block of Eierman Avenue before speeding away in a silver car, later discovered to be a rental car with a GPS inside.
Detectives traced the rental car’s path to the 7300 block of McClean Boulevard, where one individual was seen cleaning the car and entering a nearby apartment. Police identified the individual as Griggs by facial recognition technology, documents state. Cell phone records, later recovered, placed Griggs and Griggs’ co-defendant Michael Fisher at the scene of the crime and along the path of the rental car.
Fisher, who was charged with felony counts for first-degree murder and misdemeanor counts for firearm use in a felony-violent crime, conspiracy to firearm use in a felony-violent crime and illegal possession of a registered firearm. He is also being charged with having a handgun on his person.
Fisher is scheduled for a jury trial on Oct. 28 before Judge Melissa Phinn, according to the Maryland Judiciary website.
There is currently no new trial dates listed for Griggs on the Maryland Judiciary website.