One of two co-defendants accused of shooting a man in the back last April pleaded guilty to a downgraded attempted voluntary manslaughter charge and three gun violations on Jan. 6, accepting a sentence of 20 years, suspending all but 10.
Following completion of his sentence, 47-year-old defendant Antoine Courtney Manley will also be required to serve three years of supervised probation, register as a gun offender and maintain no contact with the victim or his family. He will remain exempt from parole during the first five years of his sentence.
Alongside the manslaughter charge, Manley also pleaded guilty to firearm use in a felony crime of violence, having a handgun on his person, and possessing a firearm despite an armed robbery conviction from 1999 that prohibited him from doing so. Manley’s manslaughter charge was downgraded from attempted first-degree murder after counsel found that he acted out of belief that his life was in immediate danger.
The prosecution advised the court that shortly before 2 a.m. on April 24, officers responded to gunshots on the unit block of E. North Avenue, where they chased Manley’s 37-year-old co-defendant, Nicholas Keating, to a nearby patch of bushes. Keating was apprehended on the 1800 block of Lovegrove Street, where he was found attempting to hide in the foliage.
In recovered area surveillance footage, Keating appeared to be arguing with a man before Manley—who was captured standing nearby—produced his own firearm and shot in the man’s direction. Keating was captured doing the same, leading the victim to flee. After a gunshot to his lower back caused the victim to fall to the ground, Keating began approaching him, but fled as police arrived on the scene.
Approximately eight hours later, near 10 a.m., officers received a call for an aggravated assault from the victim, whom they located on the 100 block of E. Lafayette Avenue. Counsel suggested the victim was armed when he was shot but no weapon recovered.
Although the two co-defendants had appeared likely to join their cases last August, Keating did not appear at Manley’s sentencing. His case was instead transferred to reception court upon the request of defense attorney John E. Cox, who sought a trial date in March. Keating’s trial matters are now set to be resolved tomorrow, Jan. 7.
At the request of defense attorney Mary Patton, Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge John A. Howard agreed to refer Manley to the Patuxent Institution, a maximum security correctional facility in Jessup, Maryland that aims to provide inmates treatment and mental health resources.
