Transportation Issue Delays Attempted Murder Suspect’s Plea Hearing Two Weeks

By Andrew Michaels - December 1, 2023
Attempted Murder | Court | Daily Stories | Non-Fatal Shooting | Shooting | Suspects |

A 27-year-old attempted murder defendant was not transported to Baltimore City Circuit Court for his anticipated plea hearing on Dec. 1, postponing the proceeding two weeks.

This marks the second delayed proceeding in two days due to defendant transportation issues, the first of which was for sentencing homicide defendant Cristino Flores-Perez scheduled on Nov. 30.

De’Lass Reid was expected to plead guilty to armed robbery and firearm use in a felony or violent crime on Friday in connection to a bus stop shooting on the 1700 block of Eastern Avenue on May 17, 2022. The defendant’s hearing was scheduled before Judge Lawrence P. Fletcher-Hill, but was rescheduled to Dec. 14 because of Reid’s absence, according to his defense attorney, Augustine Okeke.

Judge Robert K. Taylor Jr. is currently scheduled to preside over the scheduled plea proceeding later this month.

Reid is currently charged with attempted first and second-degree murder, first and second-degree assault and reckless endangerment as well as multiple robbery, theft and weapons charges. However, the prosecution offered Reid a plea of 15 years, the first 10 years without parole, for armed robbery and a concurrent 15 years, the first five years without parole, for firearm use in a felony or violent crime.

Under the terms of the plea, Reid’s sentence would run concurrently to a 25-year sentence the defendant is currently serving in Anne Arundel County for a first-degree assault in June 2022.

According to court documents, Reid robbed a 53-year-old man at gunpoint at a bus stop at the intersection of South Broadway and Eastern Avenue last summer. The Baltimore Police Department (BPD) recovered video footage from nearby businesses that captured the incident.

BPD was later informed of Reid’s arrest for a separate weapons charge in Prince George’s County on June 28, 2022, when the defendant was then identified as the suspect in the city shooting.