Thank you for reading Baltimore Witness.
Consider making a donation to help us continue our mission.
By
Sophia Strocko
- August 13, 2025
Court
|
Daily Stories
|
Non-Fatal Shooting
|
Shooting
|
On Aug. 13, a 40-year-old Baltimore man accepted a plea deal for an accidental and non-fatal shooting that occurred through the walls of adjoining Canton townhouses.
Michael Franchetti pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment in connection to a Nov. 11, 2024 shooting that occurred on the 2300 block of Cambridge Walk. An associated charge of discharging a gun within the city of Baltimore was dismissed following the agreement.
Before Baltimore City Circuit Judge Yvette M. Bryant, Franchetti received a three-year suspended sentence and three years of supervised probation. He will also be required to pay $7,500 in restitution.
Following Franchetti’s first year of probation, the prosecution will not oppose a conversion of his sentence to probation after judgement– so long as his probation is not violated the conviction will disappear.
According to court documents, Baltimore Police Department officers responded to a call from a resident reporting a bullet hole through the interior wall of his townhome around 5 a.m. on Nov. 11, 2024. Property damage amounted to $600, but no one was injured.
Officers determined that the single shot came through the wall from the adjoining townhouse, in which Franchetti was then residing. Franchetti did not respond to police inquiries at his door on the morning of the incident and was arrested the next day following the issue of a warrant.
Franchetti allegedly did not intend to shoot into his neighbor’s home, but accidentally discharged the firearm while adjusting the sights.
During the plea hearing, Franchetti’s defense attorney, Andrew Alperstein, emphasized how profoundly his client’s perspective on severe gun violence has changed in the months since the incident.
Franchetti’s case was originally heard in Baltimore City Eastside District Court, and he was present for a hearing at the Eastside District Courthouse on Jan. 31, the same day a man brought a handgun into the building. Both Franchetti and Alperstein were in the hallway where the man pulled the handgun from his pocket and was shot, both in the leg by a bailiff and fatally in the head by himself.