Judge Grants 21-Year-Old Murder Defendant Reduced Sentence for Remorse 

By Neoline James [former] - July 1, 2023
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

On June 30, a 21-year-old Baltimore City murder defendant received a reduced sentence for showing sincere remorse. 

Defendant Tyron Taylor and defense attorney Brian Levy appeared before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Kendra Y. Ausby to request that Taylor’s plea offer be reduced because of his age and cooperation with identifying his co-defendant, Ky’Sean Hammond. 

The prosecution offered Taylor a plea of life suspending all but 40 years with five years of supervised probation for first-degree murder to run concurrently with 20 years for firearm use in a felony violent crime in connection to the death of 28-year-old Joseph Betts on the 800 block of Low Street on July 17, 2020. 

Levy countered this offer, stating that Taylor was 18-years-old during the commission of the crime and his frontal cortex, which is responsible for impulsivity, wasn’t fully developed. He said that no one is who they were at 18 and “The person he was during the crime isn’t the person he will be.” 

Levy also argued that police let Hammond’s mother access a video of Taylor identifying Hammond, which she then posted online. As a result, Taylor has had to stay isolated from other prisoners and change prisons in order to protect his safety. 

Since the time Taylor has been incarcerated, he has attended programs for education and mental health. He told the court that he was sorry for his actions and said, “I hate myself for that.”

Judge Ausby claimed that in her career, Taylor was only one of two defendants to exhibit this kind of remorse at his age. She granted the defense’s request and reduced Taylor’s sentence to life, suspending all but 30 years with five years of supervised probation for first-degree murder to run concurrently with 20 years for firearm use in a felony violent crime.