Judge Continues Appleton Street 2021 Murder Defendant’s Scheduling Hearing

Thank you for reading Baltimore Witness. Help us continue our mission into 2024.

Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa M. Phinn continued a 2021 murder defendant’s scheduling hearing to Oct. 24, with the trial date anticipated sometime in January.

At the reception hearing on Sept. 6, the prosecutor assigned to the case indicated she had no plea deal prepared for the 28-year-old defendant, Kemonta Johnson.

The prosecutor said that, although she had no offer prepared for the defendant, she planned to give him an offer before the rescheduled hearing.

Defense attorney Jason Rodriguez was representing Johnson, who is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, firearm use in a felony violent crime and firearm possession with a felony conviction.

Kemonta Johnson’s charges are connected to the 2021 shooting of Dontae Johnson, who is not related to the defendant. Dontae Johnson was fatally shot on the 1000 block of Appleton Street. Kemonta Johnson was arrested by Western District Officers of the Baltimore Police Department in March of 2023. Police investigators believe Kemonta Johnson shot Dontae Johnson. Supporting this theory, DNA evidence acquired from a gun connected to the shooting was forensically analyzed and found to be a match to DNA collected from Kemonta Johnson.

Follow this case