Home Invaders Charged With Attempted Murder Get Rescheduled Trial, One Defendant Set for Competency Eval

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Two co-defendants accused of an attempted murder during a home invasion were scheduled for a jury trial this November, while the third co-defendant allegedly involved in the burglary will undergo a competency evaluation next month.

Phillip McCoy, Brian Strawder and Kateira Womack appeared in Baltimore City Circuit Court’s reception court on Aug. 21 after their respective attorneys requested a postponement. The trio was initially scheduled to begin a jury trial Wednesday morning before Judge Kendra Y. Ausby.

Judge Melissa K. Copeland set a four-day trial for McCoy and Womack to begin Nov. 18 before Judge Jeffrey M. Geller. McCoy and Womack, both 32, are represented by defense attorneys Brandon Thornton and Tony Garcia, respectively.

Strawder, 33, will next appear in mental health court before Judge Gale E. Rasin for a competency evaluation. Thornton stood in for Strawder’s attorney, Josh Insley, during Wednesday’s hearing.

Each defendant is facing more than two dozen charges for the incident on Oct. 19, 2023, including multiple counts of attempted first and second-degree murder, conspiracy to first-degree murder, assault, home invasion, burglary and weapons charges.

According to charging documents, a witness to the shooting was at a casino, met Womack and invited her to his home where he lived with the victim on the 800 block of North Eutaw Street. Later that evening, as Womack was leaving the residence, the witness said he turned around and saw two men—later identified as McCoy and Strawder—coming toward him from the kitchen.

The witness told officers with the Baltimore Police Department that one of the two men was armed and the victim was shot twice in the thigh as the witness and the victim ran up the stairs to escape.