Jury selection was postponed May 5 in a gang-related murder-for-hire trial due to a shortage of potential candidates for the panel.
Keith Russell, 40, and co-defendant Cornell Moore, 39, are facing a combined 78 charges for first-degree murder, attempted murder, multiple firearm and gang affiliation offenses, and conspiracy. Russell and Moore are both accused of participating in a violent criminal organization known as “The Enterprise.”
The organization reportedly aided Russell and Moore in committing seven murders and other violent crimes across a span of eight months before police apprehended both co-defendants. All of the murders were allegedly contract killings for “The Enterprise,” according to authorities.
Charging documents state that Moore and Russell stole a man’s identity in July 2021 to purchase a Honda Civic in California. They then drove the car to Maryland. Two months later on Sept. 21, 2021, the pair went on to murder 29-year-old Shabro Meredith before fleeing the scene and dumping the car.
On Nov. 2, 2021, the pair allegedly stole a white Ford Taurus which was later connected to the murder of 31-year-old Rashad Dendy on Dec. 2, 2021. Moore and Russell reportedly fled the scene of that murder as well. Shortly after, on Jan. 28, 2022, they are accused of carjacking a man at gunpoint and stealing his Nissan Rogue.
On Feb. 8, 2022, the Ford Taurus was seen in connection to another murder tied to Russell and Moore. Tyree Davis, 26, was murdered, and the Ford Taurus was used to flee the scene again. After the murder, the co-defendants reportedly abandoned the car and lit it on fire. Just 17 days later, authorities say Russell and Moore attempted to kill another man, but were unsuccessful and fled in the Nissan Rogue.
On March 2, 2022, the Nissan Rogue was allegedly used to flee the scene of 43-year-old Tayvon Scott’s murder. Then, on March 27, 2022, Moore and Russell were said to steal a Honda CR-V. On May 12, 2022, the Nissan Rogue was linked to the killing of 37-year-old Yahmell Montague and 38-year-old Angel Smith. They were murdered outside their East Baltimore home. Smith had been seven months pregnant at the time, according to police. Shortly after this murder, the Nissan Rogue was found abandoned.
On June 13, 2022, Russell and Moore reportedly carjacked another Honda CR-V. The following day, while attempting to evade police, Russell, according to reports, crashed into another car. The vehicle went down the wrong side and then off the road.
Russell and Moore are expected to return before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Robert K. Taylor for jury selection on May 6.
