Jury selection began July 27 in the retrial of Dion Thompson, 27, who is charged with fatally shooting off-duty Washington, D.C. Police Department Sergeant Tony Mason Jr. 40, and wounding Mason’s girlfriend during a 2017 shooting in Baltimore.
Thompson faces charges including first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and multiple firearm offenses.
He entered not guilty pleas to all charges Monday before jury selection began.
According to charging documents, Mason was sitting in a vehicle with his girlfriend on the 2800 block of Elgin Avenue shortly after midnight on Nov. 4, 2017, when another vehicle pulled alongside them. One of the occupants allegedly shouted before multiple shots were fired, killing Mason and injuring his girlfriend.
The retrial follows a weeklong jury trial in March 2025 that ended in a mistrial after jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict.
During that trial, arguments between the prosecution and defense attorney Robert Cohen became so heated that then-presiding Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Lynn Stewart Mays ordered the courtroom gallery cleared before proceedings resumed.
The trial is scheduled to continue July 28 with jury selection expected to resume before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Cynthia H. Jones.
