Judge Uses Discretion in Sentencing Non-Fatal Shooting Defendant

By Racquel Bazos - April 25, 2024
Court | Daily Stories | Non-Fatal Shooting | Shooting | Suspects |

During a sentencing hearing, Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge John A. Howard decided to sentence a 28-year-old non-fatal shooting defendant with the possibility of parole on April 25.

Timmy McKinnon was charged with firearm possession with a felony conviction, illegal possession of a regulated firearm, illegal possession of ammunition, firing a gun in Baltimore City, carrying a loaded weapon and reckless endangerment in connection to a shooting incident on July 19, 2023. 

McKinnon pleaded guilty to firearm possession with a felony conviction for five years without the possibility of parole, the mandatory minimum for the charge. However, defense attorney Kenneth Man pointed out the time span between this incident and McKinnon’s prior conviction, requesting the judge use discretion to go under that minimum.

According to Man, McKinnon’s arrest stemmed from an incident where he was shot twice in the leg and fired back at his attackers on the 2100 block of North Charles Street. 

According to the proffer of facts, Baltimore Police Department officers responded to the scene, where they recovered 13 shell casings after receiving a ShotSpotter alert. Investigators identified McKinnon as one of the gunmen using surveillance footage. McKinnon sustained two gunshot wounds to his leg and received treatment at Johns Hopkins Hospital. 

She added that his prior conviction was for a second-degree assault on a Department of Corrections employee in 2018. 

Man explained that McKinnon was once a high school athlete who took prescribed drugs to manage the pain from an injury, but that drug use snowballed into an opioid abuse problem that’s persisted ever since. Man said his client has been on methadone in jail, but he requested the judge order a drug treatment evaluation as part of McKinnon’s sentence. 

Judge Howard sentenced McKinnon to five years with the possibility of parole and ordered he get evaluation for drug treatment. McKinnon must also register as a gun offender when released from prison.