Judge Schedules Trial for N. Payson Street Attempted Murder Defendant 

By Racquel Bazos - August 12, 2023
Attempted Murder | Court | Daily Stories | Non-Fatal Shooting | Shooting | Suspects |

Defendant John Saunders III and his attorney Julie Shapiro appeared before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa M. Phinn to schedule his trial on Aug. 11.

Saunders, 38, rejected a plea offer from the prosecutor assigned to the case. For attempted first-degree murder, the offer was 50 years suspending all but 20 years. For firearm use in a felony violent crime, the prosecutor offered 20 years to be served concurrently to his attempted murder sentence, with the first five years ineligible for parole and five years of supervised probation. Saunders would have also been ordered to stay away from the victim. In exchange for accepting this offer, the prosecutor would have also dropped the charges against him in an unrelated drug offense.

With the plea agreement rejected, the parties agreed to begin the four-day trial on Dec. 12. Judge Phinn scheduled the matter to be heard before Judge Jeannie J. Hong.

Saunders is charged with attempted first- and second-degree murder, first- and second-degree assault, firearm use in a felony violent crime, firearm possession with a felony conviction, having a loaded handgun on his person, having a handgun on his person, firing a gun in Baltimore City, having a gun with 100 yards of the public, illegal possession of ammunition and reckless endangerment in connection to a Jan. 19 incident.

According to court documents, on Jan. 19, Baltimore Police Department officers responded to a ShotSpotter alert on the 1700 block of N. Payson Street, where they found a man suffering from a gunshot wound to the shin. Surveillance footage captured the defendant’s movements before and during the incident. Seeing that the defendant arrived at the scene by a rented scooter, investigators contacted the scooter company to identify him. The victim later confirmed that information.