Tristin Cofield pleaded guilty to the murder of 38-year-old Briane Gaye in a McDonald’s parking lot on Sept. 28 before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Dana Michele Middleton.
Cofield, who is currently 18 but was 17 at the time of the incident, was tried as an adult in connection to a fatal Aug. 9, 2025 shooting in West Baltimore. He was charged with first-degree murder, armed robbery and multiple gun offenses, including firearm use in the commission of a felony or violent crime.
Surveillance cameras showed the incident starting with Gaye riding his scooter on the 2500 block of W. Franklin Street when another scooter approached him. The scooter was being ridden by Cofield and his co-defendant Dajuan Heath, 25. Cofield was accused of confronting Gaye and shooting him multiple times before he and Heath fled with Gaye’s scooter, valued at $1,300. Gaye was transported to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he was pronounced dead shortly after.
Heath’s charges were severed from Cofield’s and proceeded to a jury trial earlier this year. Jurors acquitted Heath of first-degree murder and multiple gun-related offenses but found him guilty of conspiracy to commit armed robbery. Heath was sentenced to 20 years.
Cofield accepted a counter-offer offer from the State on Sept. 28. Under the deal , Cofield pleaded guilty to felony murder instead of first-degree murder. He faces life with all but 30 to 40 years suspended, followed by five years of probation. Additionally, Cofield pleaded guilty to firearm use in the commission of a felony or violent crime and was sentenced to 20 years, the first five without parole. The sentence will run concurrently with his felony murder sentence.
Cofield will be sentenced for felony murder within the 30-to-40-year range before Judge Middleton on Jan. 12 of next year.
