Second Trial Date Set for Baltimore Man Accused in 2017 Nightclub Shooting

By Sarah Driver [former] , Connor Driscoll [former] - July 8, 2021
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Non-Fatal Shooting | Suspects |

A 24-year-old man who allegedly shot a security guard at a Dundalk nightclub in 2017 received his trial date at the Baltimore City Circuit Court on July 8. 

Judge Melissa K. Copeland also heard two homicide cases and another non-fatal shooting case during reception court. 

Baltimore resident Dimas Osorio-Vasquez allegedly shot a security guard at the Playbook Sports Bar and Lounge in Dundalk on Jan. 15, 2017.

According to the prosecution, Osorio-Vasquez left the bar after a security guard refused to smoke marijuana with him. Twenty-five minutes later, Osorio-Vasquez allegedly returned to the bar and shot the security guard in the arm with a shotgun.  

Osorio-Vasquez is charged with attempted first-degree murder, first and second-degree assault, firearm use in a violent crime, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and conspiracy to commit first-degree assault. 

His defense attorney, Donald Wright, did not engage in the plea negotiations during the hearing. 

Judge Copeland scheduled the jury trial to begin on Nov. 1.

This will be Osorio-Vasquez’s second trial in connection to the shooting, as his previous conviction was reversed by Maryland’s Court of Special Appeals.

The conviction was vacated on two grounds, according to the 2019 appellate court decision by Judge Paul E. Alpert. The court first found that, despite a prior ruling, the defense team should have been allowed to know which witnesses did not pick the defendant out of a lineup. It was also held that the trial court should have prevented the prosecution from making certain speculative arguments during closing statements. 

Judge Copeland also scheduled a trial date in November for another non-fatal shooting defendant.

Baltimore resident Dominick Scarboro faces 25 charges in connection to an incident on Sept. 10, 2020.

On behalf of his client, defense attorney Paul Polansky rejected a plea offer of life, suspending all but 15 years, for three counts of attempted first-degree murder, and 15 years, with the first five without the possibility of parole, and three years probation for firearm use in a violent crime.

Under the deal, Scarboro, 26, would have served the sentences concurrently. He also would have been required to stay away from the victim.

He is additionally charged with three counts of attempted second-degree murder, first and second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, and malicious destruction of property valued over $1,000, as well as making repeated calls to harass someone and five other weapons charges. 

Judge Copeland scheduled his trial to begin on Oct. 18.

A plea offer was also rejected in the case of two co-defendants in a double homicide.

Baltimore residents Tashonda Childs and Sean Braxton-Carter are allegedly involved in a homicide on Feb. 2, 2020.

Childs, 37, was offered life, suspending all but 50 years, for first-degree murder, and Braxton-Carter, 32, was offered life, suspending all but 60 years, for first-degree murder.

Defense attorneys Warren Brown and Hunter Pruette rejected the offers on behalf of Childs and Braxton-Carter, respectively.

The case will return to Judge Copeland to schedule a trial date on Sept. 15. 

In addition to first-degree murder, both co-defendants are charged with firearm use in a violent crime. Braxton-Carter is also charged with carrying a handgun on his person, having a handgun in a vehicle on a public road, and firearm possession with a prior felony conviction.