Judge Grants Bail for Defendant in Self-Inflicted Shooting Case

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Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge LaZette Ringgold-Kirksey granted Ellamont Garland, 46, bail for home detention under full lockdown on June 17.

Garland is charged with illegal possession of a regulated firearm, firearm possession with a prior felony conviction and related firearm violations in connection to an alleged accidental shooting that occurred on April 18.

According to charging documents, Garland initially told police he exited his Acura sedan to walk to his backyard when he heard discharge from a gun. After realizing he was shot, he fled to the 600 block of N. Calhoun Street.

Later, after officers transported him to Johns Hopkins Hospital for emergency treatment, he advised that he shot himself after finding the gun, transporting it to Calhoun Street and trying to disarm it. After shooting himself, he alleged he threw the gun into an alley, but did not see where it went.

Roya Hanna, defense counsel for Garland, corroborated the narrative that Garland was trying to unload a firearm he found and accidentally shot himself in the process. Hanna also emphasized he maintains a job and acts as the primary caregiver to his wife, who is recovering from surgery.

The prosecution brought up Garland’s prior convictions, which including a second-degree rape charge from 2003.

Hanna rebutted, saying Garland reported regularly to the Maryland Sex Offender Registry every three months for the last 20 years, and even turned himself in to the State’s Attorneys Office for his supposed role in the April 18 incident.

Hanna also said that Garland was trying to start his own business.

Garland was granted release on the conditions that he be held on complete lockdown, with the exception of medical and legal appointments. Ringgold-Kirksey said she could modify the terms of his release once he finalized his work schedule to allow him to continue his job.

Garland is scheduled to reappear in court July 2 for a preliminary hearing.