Life with Possible Parole Offered to Alleged Murderer

By Andrew Michaels - August 24, 2021
Court | Homicides | Shooting | Victims |

The prosecution offered a plea deal to a murder defendant on Aug. 24 in connection to a homicide that occurred in November 2020.

At Baltimore City Circuit Court on Tuesday, Joseph Clark, a Baltimore resident, was offered a plea of life with the possibility of parole for first-degree murder. Clark is also charged with firearm use in a violent crime, illegal possession of a firearm, and having a handgun on his person.

The terms of the plea would include the dismissal of another case against Clark for charges including burglary, false imprisonment, and assault.

Defense attorney Maureen O’Leary told Judge Melissa M. Phinn that she had not yet relayed the offer to her client.

Clark’s case is scheduled to return to reception court on Nov. 17.

According to the Baltimore Police Department, officers were called to the 4400 block of Plainfield Avenue around 3:20 a.m. on Nov. 11, 2020, for reports of a shooting. When they arrived, officers found a 35-year-old man with gunshot wounds to his hip and thigh.

The police have not released the victim’s name.

The victim was taken to Johns Hopkins for treatment; however, he was pronounced dead at 9:30 a.m.

Police said detectives later identified Clark and arrested him at his home in the 2500 block of Ruscombe Lane.