Judge Postpones Trial for 2020 Murder

By Breeze Cofield [former] - February 23, 2024
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

On Feb. 21, a hearing was held before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa K. Copeland to reschedule a murder retrial. 

The defendant, 33-year-old Donnell Johnson, is charged with first-degree murder, firearm use in a felony violent crime, having a handgun on his person and having a handgun in a vehicle in connection to the Sept. 10, 2020 killing of 27-year-old Kenneth Bivens .

During the hearing, the assistant state’s attorney said she could not proceed to trial today because her lead witness, a Baltimore Police Department (BPD) detective, was unavailable until the end of the month. This is the second time in one month Johnson’s trial has been postponed.

Johnson expressed his desire to proceed forward to trial. Accompanied by stand-in defense attorney Andre Mahasa, Johnson said, “This case happened in 2020. It’s 2024… Every postponement has been due to the state not being ready.” 

The prosecutor said the case’s history of postponements was due to miscommunication and changes in counsel. But she assured Johnson that she sympathized with his concerns and desire to have the opportunity to seek justice and be heard before a jury of his peers. 

Judge Copeland scheduled Johnson’s trial to begin on March 11 before Judge Robert K. Taylor. 

According to a previous Baltimore Witness article, BPD officers responded to a call on the 1000 block of Beaumont Avenue where Bivens was found lying face down suffering a gunshot wound to the back of his head. Johnson allegedly pulled out a gun striking and killing Bivens after a physical altercation.