Trial Set for Attempted Murder Defendant Facing 32 Counts

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After being declared competent to stand trial in March, Brian Strawder, 33, appeared before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa K. Copeland during reception court on May 9. He was scheduled to begin trial Aug. 25. The case is expected to last three days before Judge Michael DePietro.

Strawder is charged with 32 counts, including multiple counts of attempted first-and second-degree murder, first-degree assault and burglary, reckless endangerment, and related firearm and conspiracy offenses. The charges stem from an October 2023 shooting that injured a 46-year-old woman.

Co-defendants Kateria Womack, 32, and Phillip McCoy, 33, face similar charges.

Womack accepted a plea offer on Nov. 18, 2024, receiving a 10-year sentence, suspending all but time served, followed by four years of supervised probation. McCoy is set for trial before Judge Levi S. Zaslow beginning May 21.

According to charging documents, on Oct. 19, 2023, Baltimore Police Department (BPD) officers reported to a home on the 800 block of N. Eutaw Street, where they located a woman suffering from a gunshot wound to her right thigh. Two other individuals at the scene were unharmed.

One witness told officers he met Womack at the casino earlier that night and invited her to his residence, where he was living with the victim.

After Womack left, the witness said he turned around and saw two males, believed to be Strawder and McCoy, approaching him from the kitchen. One was reportedly holding a gun. The witness said he ran back upstairs with the victim, who was shot twice on the steps.

Based on surveillance footage, BPD believes the three co-defendants decided and planned to target the witness while at the casino.

During reception court, Strawder informed Judge Copeland that his defense attorney, Angela Shelton, had not yet met with him.

The prosecution presented an offer that included 90 years for attempted first-degree murder, suspending all but 45 years, with five years of supervised probation and registry under the Gun Offender Registry Act (GORA). They also offered 45 years for a second charge of attempted first-degree murder and 22 years for firearm use in a felony or violent crime, the first five to be served without the possibility of parole. The latter two sentences would run concurrently with the first.

Shelton neither accepted nor rejected the offer, stating she and her client needed more time to review it and to receive additional discovery.

“This is not an absolute rejection,” Shelton said. “I would just ask to hold this offer open.”