Homicide Defendant Has Trial Scheduled for Early Next Year

Thank you for reading Baltimore Witness.
Help us continue our mission into 2025 by donating to our end of year campaign.

Donate Now

A 21-year-old Baltimore man charged with first-degree murder rejected a plea of 60 years, with five years probation, on May 31 before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa Phinn

Kamren Cannady is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, use of a firearm during a violent crime, and possessing a handgun in a vehicle in connection to an incident on Oct. 24, 2021. 

During the proceedings, Judge Phinn listened as the prosecutor presented a plea of life, suspending all but 60 years, with five years probation for first-degree murder. 

Cannady and defense attorney Daniel Moony, who was standing in for Robert Cole, rejected the plea. 

Counsel said they currently have no availability to try the case in 2022 and scheduled the trial for Jan. 9, 2023, before Judge Videtta A. Brown.

According to court documents, on Oct. 24, 2021, Baltimore Police Department officers were called to the 300 block of S. Fulton Avenue at approximately 4:26 p.m. for a shot spotter alert and found an adult man, later identified as James Byrd, with an apparent gunshot wound to the head.

The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.