Shooting Defendant Granted Probation Before Judgment After Guilty Finding for Property Destruction

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A shooting defendant accused of firing a gun in the air to scare away kids who were damaging his car was given probation before judgment on April 3 following a brief jury trial.

Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Kendra Y. Ausby presided over the trial of 24-year-old Jeremiah Dairo who was charged with firing a gun in Baltimore City as well as reckless endangerment, firearm use in a felony or violent crime, malicious destruction of property valued more than $1,000 and three counts each of first and second-degree assault. The defendant was found guilty of property destruction and not guilty of the remaining charges.

After the jury was dismissed, Judge Ausby agreed to strike the guilty finding and enter probation before judgment. Dairo, who was represented by defense attorney Augustine Okeke, had served more than the 60-day maximum sentence for property destruction and was released.

Okeke previously argued that Dairo was “acting within the law” when he fired his gun in the air on Aug. 12, 2023, outside his girlfriend’s home on the 500 block of Radnor Avenue. Counsel claimed the defendant’s girlfriend saw kids banging on Dairo’s truck. When the kids refused to stop, Dairo fired his gun once in the air, causing them to run away.

The prosecution countered that the kids neither touched nor damaged the defendant’s truck, despite Dairo’s claim that he found scratches on the vehicle.