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By
Andrew Michaels
- September 12, 2024
Court
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A Baltimore City Circuit Court judge sentenced defendant Shawn Brunson to 29 years in prison on Sept. 12 after he was convicted earlier this year for driving a stolen vehicle into a building that collapsed onto 54-year-old Alfred Fincher and violating his parole.
The 35-year-old defendant was found guilty of vehicular manslaughter, theft between $1,500 and $25,000 and driving a car without a license in February before Judge Dana M. Middleton. On Thursday, the prosecution asked Judge Middleton to impose the maximum sentence for Brunson’s crimes, gesturing toward Fincher’s family and the other victims who sat in the gallery.
Fincher was given “a life sentence” when Brunson crashed a stolen 2017 Hyundai Sonata into a building at the intersection of East North Avenue and Wolfe Street on Feb. 8, 2023. The prosecutor said two other vehicles were also struck by Brunson, injuring several others, including one victim who remains in wheelchair.
During a victim impact statement, Fincher’s daughter told the judge that she watched the defendant at trial as he “acted like he did nothing wrong.”
“My family still has not gotten an apology,” she said, sobbing.
Brunson later apologized to the victims and their families in court.
Defense attorney Gregory Fischer provided a detailed history of the defendant’s upbringing and ongoing struggles with mental health. Fischer said Brunson was abused as a child by his mother’s boyfriend—the same man who was later convicted for killing Brunson’s nine-month-old brother at the time.
Fischer emphasized the importance of getting mental health treatment for Brunson, asking Judge Middleton provide a recommendation for the Patuxent Institution.
“Today is about [the victims’ and their families’] tragedy,” Judge Middleton said, addressing Brunson during the proceeding. “…You had your chance and you blew it. You blew it. The result of your poor choices is that somebody died.”
The judge sentenced the defendant to 10 years for vehicular manslaughter, a consecutive five years for theft between $1,500 and $25,000 and a concurrent 60 days for driving a car without a license. This sentence will also run consecutively to Brunson’s sentence for violating his parole in connection to a first-degree assault in 2021, bringing his total sentence to 29 years.