Pennsylvania Avenue Attempted Murder Defendant Accepts Plea

By Amel Kebede [former] - November 20, 2023
Attempted Murder | Court | Daily Stories | Non-Fatal Shooting | Shooting | Suspects |

Defendant Calvin Hemphill appeared with his lawyer, Josh Insley, before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Charles H. Dorsey III on Nov. 20 for a plea hearing. 

Hemphill, 42, is charged with attempted first- and second-degree murder, first- and second-degree assault, reckless endangerment,firearm use in a felony violent crime, firearm possession with a felony conviction , illegal possession of a regulated firearm, possession of a firearm after a felony conviction for a controlled dangerous substance, having a loaded handgun on his person and discharging a firearm in connection to the shooting of a 53-year-old man on April 17, 2022. 

The assistant state’s attorney offered him a plea offer of 30 years, suspending all but nine years, with five years of supervised probation for second-degree murder; a concurrent 10 years, suspending all but nine years, the first five years without the possibility of parole for firearm use in a felony violent crime; a concurrent three years of incarceration and four years of gun offender registration upon release for having a loaded handgun on a person.

Additionally, the plea agreement also included his staying away from the victim and witnesses, to get counseling for anger management, to do drug screenings and drug treatment if necessary, and mental screening. He also received credit for time served from May 2022. 

Although Hemphill did accept the plea, Judge Dorsey didn’t sentence him due to a disposition hearing to conclude the case on March 8, 2024. 

According to court documents, Baltimore Police Department officers were dispatched to a residence on the 1500 block of  Pennsylvania Avenue for a report of a shooting. Upon arrival, they found the victim suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to his torso. The two witnesses stated that when the victim opened the front door to leave for the night, a black male wearing all black clothing and a face mask pushed the door open and pointed a handgun at the victim.

The victim struggled with the suspect to keep the door closed while the witnesses ran to the rear of the apartment. During the melee, the suspect fired four gunshots in the apartment, which struck the victim three times. Detectives were able to make an arrest based on reviewing the CityWatch cameras and CCTV footage from the General Dollar Store Hemphill worked at. One of the witnesses was also able to identify Hemphill’s orange Mongoose bicycle the suspect had when fleeing the scene.