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By
Sage Cho
- May 27, 2025
Court
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Daily Stories
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Non-Fatal Shooting
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Trial was postponed Tuesday for a man accused of shooting his housemate over a bottle of liquor. The postponement came after Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey M. Geller proceeded with 25-year-old Keshawn Luckey’s attempted murder trial, leaving defense attorney Martin E. Cohen to seek a later trial date.
Charles Ward, III, 26, is charged with first-degree assault, firearm use in a violent crime, and discharging a firearm in Baltimore City for allegedly shooting his housemate and pointing a gun at him and his girlfriend.
Ward’s case was transferred to postponement court, where Judge Melissa M. Phinn ultimately set his trial to begin early August, past his Hicks deadline of July 15. The Maryland Hicks rule protects defendants’ right to speedy trial and requires that criminal cases come to trial within 180 days of a defendant’s or defense attorney’s initial appearance in court. Though Ward was unwilling to waive the date, Judge Phinn proceeded.
According to charging documents, on Dec. 1, 2024, at approximately 9:29 a.m., officers responded to an apartment in the 3600 block of Bowers Avenue for a report of a shooting. Upon arrival, they observed Ward “leaving the apartment at a hurried pace.” Once inside, they located a Black male, later identified as the primary victim, suffering from a gunshot wound to his left thigh.
Witnesses alleged Ward shot the victim and tried to flee the scene. Officers arrested him and recovered a backpack from his body that was said to contai a Glock 19 handgun loaded with one live round in the chamber and 11 in the magazine.
Medics transported the victim to Sinai Hospital for treatment, and Northwest District detectives and crime lab technicians responded to the scene.
Detectives interviewed the victim, his girlfriend, and Ward’s girlfriend, all of whom claimed Ward shot the victim and stood over him, pointing the gun to his head as he lay on the ground. Ward reportedly told the victim, “I should kill you.”
The victim’s girlfriend allegedly attempted to approach the victim to render aid, but Ward was said to have pointed the gun at her, causing her to “fear for her life as well.”
All four had been living together at the residence prior to the altercation, which supposedly broke out over a bottle of Hennessy cognac. The victim reportedly punched Ward, and Ward retaliated by shooting him.
A search and seizure warrant was issued for the residence and executed. Evidence recovered from Ward’s bedroom included a large black case containing a black Hunt Group 12-gauge shotgun with two magazines containing ammunition, a silver box containing 89 9mm cartridges and seven 12-gauge cartridges, an iPhone, a spent casing, and one live 9mm round.
Investigators also searched the living room and recovered blood samples, a pair of gray cut pants containing blood, and a bullet fragment from behind the television.
Ward is currently slated to return to court Aug. 5 for a two-day jury trial.