A 33-year-old man accused of an unprovoked shooting that injured another man in Downtown Baltimore last spring opted for a jury trial over a 30-year plea deal on Sept. 17.
Defense counsel Alex Leikus and his client, Antonio Chase, rejected the prosecution’s plea offer of 50 years, suspending all but 30 years, and five years of supervised probation for attempted-first degree murder and a concurrent five years without parole for using a firearm in the commission of a felony or violent crime.
The defendant’s additional charges include attempted-second degree murder, first-degree assault, reckless endangerment and having a handgun on his person.
The prosecutor informed Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa K. Copeland that she is still waiting to obtain a firearms report and a detective’s report regarding the incident on May 10 on the 300 block of Marion Street. All other evidence has been sent to defense counsel, she said.
Counsel agreed on a three-day trial, beginning Dec. 7, before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Dana M. Middleton.
Earlier this year, Baltimore Police were called to the 300 block of W. Fayette Street around 11:20 a.m. for a reported shooting. People at the scene directed officers to the 100 block of N. Eutaw Street, where police found the victim with a gunshot wound to his right hip standing outside Mimi Nail salon.
The victim told police he did not know the shooter. Before the incident, the victim said, he got high and went to Marion Street to sit on the steps. There were no words exchanged nor a physical altercation between the victim and the suspect when the former was shot, court documents state.
Further investigation led police to a witness who reportedly saw the shooting, called 911 and provided a description of the suspect, who was later identified as Chase. The witness followed Chase to the train station near E. Baltimore and N. Charles streets before the witness lost track of him.
Chase — matching the suspect’s description — was later seen on video surveillance entering and exiting a nearby apartment building on Marion Street before and after the shooting, court documents state. Shortly after 1:30 p.m., one of the responding officers saw Chase walking toward his patrol vehicle on the 100 block of N. Eutaw Street near the E. Fayette Street intersection.
Officers arrested Chase moments later and recovered a black Beretta APX 9mm handgun with one live 9mm round from the defendant’s front waistband.
