On Dec. 1, a prosecutor requested a retrial postponement before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa M. Phinn due to the case recently being reassigned.
The prosecutor informed the court that Donnell Johnson’s initial trial in June 2022 resulted in a mistrial.
She also said there were several things that need to be disclosed to the defense, including a “serology report that was never provided to defense.”
Johnson, 31, is charged with first-degree murder and the use of a firearm during a felony violent crime in connection to the fatal shooting of 27-year-old Kenneth Bivens on Sept. 10, 2020.
According to court documents, officers were called to the 1000 block of Beaumont Avenue on the day of the incident for reports of a shooting. On arrival, officers found Bivens suffering from a gunshot to the back of his head.
Johnson’s retrial is scheduled for May 3 with Judge Dana Middleton presiding.
