Only One Co-Defendant Decides to Accept Plea Offer

By Grace Kemper [former] - March 17, 2022
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

Two Baltimore men facing homicide charges were offered a plea deal before Judge Jeannie Hong at the Baltimore City Circuit Court on March 16.

Keith Gladden, 35, and Arthur Holt, 28, are charged with two counts of first-degree murder, use of a firearm during a violent crime, and possession of a firearm with a felony conviction in connection to an incident on April 4, 2020. 

Judge Hong listened as the prosecutor offered Gladden a plea of life suspending all but 50 years with 5 years on probation for first-degree murder and 10 years for use of a firearm during a violent crime. The charges are set to run concurrently. The defendant, accompanied by his defense attorney John Cox, accepted. 

Holt alongside his defense attorney Catherine Flynn rejected plea of life suspending all but 60 years with 5 years on probation for first-degree murder and 10 years for use of a firearm during a violent crime. The charges were set to run concurrently. 

The co-defendants were identified through store footage that captured the entire incident, according to Flynn. 

According to court documents, the men allegedly shot and killed 20-year-old Dontrell Toliver on the 400 block of North Montford Avenue on April 6, 2020. Officers located the victim on the corner of North Montford Avenue and Jefferson Street with apparent gunshot wounds to his arm, legs, and torso. 

Holt’s trial has been postponed due to a death in the prosecutor’s family. 

According to Maryland’s Judiciary website, Holt’s next hearing has not yet been determined.