‘MDEC’ Rollout Postpones Trial for Woman Accused of Killing Her Two Children

By Andrew Michaels - February 10, 2024
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | stabbing | Suspects | Victims |

The April trial for a 31-year-old woman accused of killing her two children was postponed six weeks on Feb. 9 to accommodate the rollout of the Maryland Electronic Courts (MDEC) filing system in Baltimore City Circuit Court this spring.

Jameria Hall was scheduled for a five-day trial on April 30; however, Judge Melissa K. Copeland informed counsel on Friday that the courts will be closed on May 2, May 3 and May 6 for MDEC’s implementation. The prosecutor and defense attorneys Deborah Levi and Mary Pizzo agreed to reschedule Hall’s trial for June 11 before Judge Jeffrey M. Geller.

Hall currently faces two counts of first-degree murder and first-degree child abuse resulting in death as well as one count of using a deadly weapon with the intent to injure for the killing of her two children, six-year-old Da’Neria Thomas and 8-year-old Davin Thomas, inside the family’s apartment on the 500 block of Coventry Road on Aug. 24, 2021.

The Baltimore Police Department (BPD) was alerted to the double homicide after the apartment complex’s manager asked a maintenance employee to investigate “a foul smell” coming from inside the family’s apartment, charging documents state. Police found Davin face down in a sleeping bag with a knife stuck in his chest and a black trash bag tied around his head and Da’Neria lying face up in a bathtub with a piece of clothing around her neck.

Neighbors also reported hearing screaming on the night of Aug. 19, 2021, and into the following morning. According to the children’s father, Hall was last seen by herself, screaming and cursing while walking near North Avenue and Bloomingdale Road on Aug. 24, 2021.

The defendant was initially found incompetent to stand trial in September 2021 in mental health court, which was later overturned in March 2022.