‘Something Was Off,’ Prosecutor Says of New Year’s Day Attempted Murder on Belair Road

By Andrew Michaels - October 31, 2023
Attempted Murder | Court | Daily Stories | Non-Fatal Shooting | Shooting | Suspects |

A New Year’s Day evening spent watching the Baltimore Ravens versus the Pittsburgh Steelers almost turned deadly outside City Line Bar and Grill in Baltimore’s Rosemont East neighborhood earlier this year.

Three people, including defendant Ira Linton, were watching the football game at the bar in Northeast Baltimore, but “something was off,” a prosecutor told jurors at the start of Linton’s trial on Oct. 30. The victim and his friend eventually left for another bar, where the 45-year-old defendant showed up 15-to -20 minutes later.

Somehow, the prosecutor said, an altercation between the defendant and victim escalated. The victim left and returned to City Line Bar and Grill on the 6500 block of Belair Road to retrieve something he had left there earlier that evening. Although the door was locked, someone opened it and pointed a handgun at the victim’s head.

The victim grabbed the barrel in an attempt to protect himself, but was ultimately shot in the back of his head, his neck and both shoulders. Officers from the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) arrived at the scene around 1:20 a.m. and found the victim “faced down in a pool of blood,” the prosecutor said in her opening statement.

On Jan. 5, BPD detectives went to Johns Hopkins Hospital to interview the victim who allegedly identified Linton in a photo array.

“Neither of us were there when this took place,” defense attorney Stephen Tully argued Monday afternoon, reminding the jury that his client must be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Juries and their importance date back hundreds of years, Tully said, using the 1770 Boston Massacre as an example. Nine British soldiers were guarding the Boston Customs House when they fired into a crowd of people. The trials of all of the men were held in pre-Revolutionary War Boston and consisted of a jury of the soldiers’ peers.

All nine men were found not guilty of murder, defense counsel said. 

Tully concluded by telling the jury to look at, interpret and make a judgement based solely off of the facts of the case.

Linton’s trial is proceeding with testimony before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Jennifer B. Schiffer and will continue on Oct. 31.

His charges include first and second-degree attempted murder, first and second-degree assault, firearm use in a felony or violent crime, reckless endangerment, firearm possession with a felony conviction, illegal possession of ammunition, wearing or carrying a handgun, having a loaded handgun on his person and firing a gun in Baltimore City.