Man Accused of Shooting 19-Year-Old in 2022 Was Protecting Himself and Others, Defense Says

By Andrew Michaels - April 18, 2023
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

Terrill Johnson was protecting his baby daughter, girlfriend, and a young boy when he fired a single gunshot at Adrian Morris on April 28, 2022, killing the 19-year-old victim.

Nearly one year later, Johnson’s defense counsel argued that the defendant was defending himself and others when Morris allegedly threatened the group outside a liquor store along the 5300 block of Belair Road around 7:35 p.m.

On April 17, the 22-year-old defendant was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter and three weapons charges after less than a day of jury deliberations before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge M. Brooke Murdock. The jury found Johnson not guilty of second-degree murder.

“If a stranger comes up and tells you he’s going to shoot up your car and everyone in it, it is reasonable to believe that they are dangerous,” defense attorney Stephanie Salter said to the jury.

Salter explained that everything happened in four minutes and began at a liquor store where Morris approached Johnson and asked the defendant if that was his girlfriend in the vehicle outside. Morris then told Johnson that the latter’s girlfriend owed him $10 for drugs.

Johnson was trying to focus on paying the cashier as Morris became “immediately confrontational.”

“When [the victim] approached the car, he had his hand in the bag,” she said, referring to a satchel Morris was seen wearing in video surveillance footage. “…[The defendant] genuinely believed they were all about to be killed.”

The defense attorney concluded that her client threw his gun out of his car window because he wanted nothing more to do with it. It wasn’t smart, she added, but he wasn’t trying to destroy evidence.

Earlier in the proceeding, the prosecution reminded the jury that Morris was shot in his mid-section—a part of the body you wouldn’t shoot just to scare someone. Additionally, the victim did not have his hands in his satchel as seen in the video surveillance footage.

“He was an adult capable of making adult decisions,” he said. “Just because someone talks to you doesn’t give you the right to pull out a firearm and shoot them just because of scary words.”

The prosecutor also said that the defendant was prohibited from owning a firearm due to a prior conviction.