On Dec. 16, Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Anthony F. Vittoria referred a homicide defendant’s trial to mental health court.
Kharod O’Neill, 20, is charged with first-degree murder, firearm use in a felony violent crime, having a loaded handgun in a vehicle and having a loaded handgun on his person in connection with the death of 20-year-old Jriley Downs on July, 3, 2023.
During a Sept. 16 testimony, Downs’ girlfriend said that she and Downs drove to the 2600 block of Saint Benedict Street to buy marijuana from O’Neill, whom they knew by the name “Cheddar.” Downs’ girlfriend noted that O’Neill was behaving suspiciously, asking multiple times whether Downs was armed. After Downs drove to the 2200 block of West Baltimore Street as O’Neill directed, ShotSpotter alerted police to four gunshots in the area.
Responders to the scene found Downs’ body strewn across a back alley with his head bleeding profusely from multiple gunshot wounds. Jurors were able to observe the scene through footage from police responders’ body cameras.
The referral of the case to mental health court comes after O’Neill recently violated his probation terms by sending inappropriate text messages to his probation agent.
“What’s going on here is more substantial than a technical violation,” said the prosecution.
This incident is not the first time O’Neill violated the terms of his probation. Shortly after his discharge from a University of Maryland inpatient mental health treatment program, O’Neill was caught impersonating an officer with the intent to kidnap a child.
O’Neill will return to court on Jan. 22, 2025 for his mental health court hearing.
