Judge Schedules Appleton Street Murder Trial

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Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa K. Copeland scheduled a 2021 murder trial on March 22.

Kemonta Johnson is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, firearm use in a felony violent crime and firearm possession with a felony conviction for the November 2021 murder of 30-year-old Dontae Johnson.

The stand-in prosecutor relayed the offer of life to 29-year-old Johnson, which his defense attorney Jason Rodriguez rejected on his behalf.

Although the prosecution was seeking a late September trial date, Judge Copeland would not allow a trial to be scheduled that far out.

Judge Copeland scheduled the three-day trial to begin on July 23 before Judge Cynthia H. Jones.

Documents from the District Court of Maryland state that Baltimore Police Department officers found the victim suffering from a gunshot wound on the 1000 block of Appleton Street on Nov. 24, 2021. Surveillance footage showed three suspects run out of a van and into an alleyway leading to the block where the victim was found.

Detectives arrested Johnson days later after tracking down the van on the unit block of West North Avenue. The firearm allegedly used in the murder was in a dumpster nearby.