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By
Maya St. Hillaire
- June 3, 2025
Court
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Daily Stories
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Non-Fatal Shooting
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Suspects
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Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Timothy J. Doory heard a request to postpone the trial of Deonte Anthony Simms on June 2.
Simms, 32, is charged with illegal possession of a firearm, discharging a firearm in the city, and firearm possession with a prior felony conviction.
According to charging documents, on Jan. 28, 2024, police responded to calls from an apartment complex in the 2200 block of Park Avenue for a report of a man experiencing a mental crisis. Police arrived to find bullet holes in the walls of the building.
A man, later identified as Simms, began yelling for help behind closed doors, asking the officers on the scene to enter. Simms initially refused orders to come out, but officers eventually persuaded him in a phone call. He was then transported to the University of Maryland Medical Center for further evaluation. Inside the room Simms was occupying, police allegedly found an unregistered AR-style pistol and ammunition.
Simms is prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition because he was previously convicted of a federal crime and misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment. Additionally, he was on supervised probation.
Simms is scheduled to attend a competency hearing on July 4. His defense attorney, Michael Tomko, said several administrative concerns regarding Simms’ mental health need to be resolved before they can go to trial.
Judge Melissa K. Copeland will decide whether to grant the defense’s request for postponement during reception court on June 3.
A new trial date has not been scheduled.