Homicide Defendant Accepts 30 Year Plea Deal

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A 37-year-old Baltimore man charged with first-degree murder accepted a plea deal of 30 years on June 8 before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa M. Phinn.

Jamie Vaughn is charged with first-degree murder, use of a firearm during a violent crime, and having a handgun on his person in connection to an incident on April 2, 2019.

The prosecutor presented a plea of life suspending all but 30 years with five years on supervised probation for first-degree murder. The plea agreement also included a sentence of 8 years, the first five years without parole, for use of a firearm during a violent crime. The sentences are set to run concurrently.

Under the plea, the defendant must register as a gun offender.

Vaughn and his defense attorney Gregory Fischer, accepted the plea.

“I haven’t worked since the incident in 2019,” said the victim’s mother. “My life was on hold every day. I had to make a decision to let my son go, and that was the worst decision of my life. He was my only son. How can I live on without him?”

According to a press release, a Shot Spotter alert sent officers to the 1400 block of W. Fayette Street on April 2, 2019, around 10:45 p.m. They found 37-year-old Jaquan Purvis suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.

The victim was taken to the University of Maryland’s Shock Trauma Center.

On May 23, Purvis, succumbed to his injuries. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled his death a homicide due to complications stemming from the gunshot wounds sustained in 2019. As a result, the non-fatal shooting of Purvis was upgraded to a homicide.

“When my dad was shot, we were just getting back together,” the victim’s daughter told Judge Phinn. “He never got to see me graduate or see his granddaughter be born, nor will he be able to walk me down the aisle. I suffer from PTSD, anxiety and depression, losing my father did not help. No daughter should be without their father, he’s supposed to be the first man to love you, protect you, and be by your side”.