Woman Charged with Bryant Avenue Shooting Takes Revised Plea Offer

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A 27-year-old Baltimore woman accused of an attempted murder last May accepted a reduced plea on May 9 for a sentence of 18 years.

In addition to attempted murder, defendant Cowanda Mills was facing first and second-degree assault and three weapons charges for shooting someone during an argument on the 2000 block of Bryant Avenue on May 26, 2022.

Mills, who was scheduled to begin jury selection on Tuesday, agreed to the terms of the prosecution’s revised plea offer of 30 years, suspending all but 15 years, and three years of supervised probation for attempted second-degree murder; a concurrent 15 years, suspending all but five years, the first five years without parole, for firearm use in a felony violent crime; and a consecutive three years for having a handgun on her person.

This plea is less than half of what the prosecution previously offered and Mills rejected in December 2022: life, suspending all but 40 years, and five years of supervised probation for attempted first-degree murder; and a concurrent 15 years, the first five years without parole, for firearm use in a felony violent crime.

Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Charles Dorsey presided over the proceeding, during which Mills was represented by defense attorney Gil Amaral.