Judge Schedules 2024 Trial for 17-Year-Old Accused in Mass Shooting 

By Racquel Bazos - October 4, 2023
Attempted Murder | Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Juveniles | Non-Fatal Shooting | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

On Oct. 4, neither the prosecutor nor and defense could not come up with a 2023 trial date for a 17-year-old defendant charged with shooting five people in January.

Daaon Spears is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, first- and second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, first- and second-degree assault, firearm use in a felony violent crime, having a handgun on his person, having a loaded handgun on his person, possession of a firearm as a minor and illegal possession of a regulated firearm in connection to a Jan. 4 mass shooting at Edmondson Village shopping center. 

Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Dana M. Middleton refused to schedule Spears’ trial on the proposed date of March 19, 2024, due to that date being four months after his Maryland speedy trial right’s deadline expires on Oct. 9. 

The prosecutor said that the March date worked better for the defense due to Spears’ co-counsel, Jennifer Davis, coming back from vacation in late February 2024. But co-counsel Robert Linthicum said the team could make Feb. 23, 2024, work if needed. 

When asked if they could possibly get any dates before February, the prosecutor told Judge Middleton that neither side had any free days until then.

Judge Middleton scheduled Spears’ five-day trial to begin on Feb. 23, 2024, before Judge John A. Howard. 

District Court of Maryland documents state that Baltimore Police Department officers responded to the Edmondson Village shopping center on the 4400 block of Edmondson Avenue for reports of a shooting. Upon arrival, officers found five victims on the ground suffering from gunshot wounds, all of whom received medical care and recovered except for 16-year-old Deanta Dorsey. Witnesses identified Spears on surveillance footage recovered from the scene.