A man admitted on Tuesday to killing his cellmate at the Baltimore Central Booking & Intake Center in a case that raised questions about how the state corrections department houses prisoners with disabilities.
Gordon Staron, 35, of Abingdon in Harford County, pleaded guilty in Baltimore Circuit Court to first-degree murder in the death of Javarick Gantt, who was deaf and used sign language to communicate.
Gantt was found unresponsive in his cell on Oct. 9, 2022, and, less than 30 minutes later, a paramedic with the Baltimore City Fire Department pronounced him dead. He was 34.
The Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled that his cause of death was strangulation. The manner of death was homicide.
Baltimore State’s Attorney Ivan Bates prosecuted the case with Assistant State’s Attorney Tonya LaPolla.
Outside the Elijah E. Cummings Courthouse, Bates said he wanted people in the community to know that he’s “willing to go to court to do the job.”
“It’s very important they recognize that fighting for them doesn’t always mean you always mean that you do it on the sidelines,” said Bates, who last prosecuted a case in 2002. “Sometimes, you need to go into the courtroom to make sure you hold people accountable.”
Gantt’s father, Rick Barry Sr., told reporters that his family was more than satisfied.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Barry said he turned to face Bates and LaPolla. “That’s all I’d like to say at this time.”
At the time, Staron was being held in a murder case. Gantt was detained for a probation violation.
The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services runs the city’s jail system. Gantt, disability advocates have said, should not have been housed with a prisoner who was considered high risk.
Staron was found guilty last week of first-degree murder and related crimes in the killing of Keith Bell, which happened at a bus stop on East Monument and North Caroline streets in East Baltimore, on Sept. 6, 2022. He was 63.
The Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office will be seeking life in prison without the possibility of parole in Bell’s death. Prosecutors will be asking for a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole to run at the same time in Gantt’s killing.
Outside the courtroom, Jason Silverstein, Staron’s attorney, declined to comment.
After his guilty plea, Staron stood up, put his arms out for correctional officers to handcuff and shackle him and walked with them out of the courtroom. Circuit Judge Althea M. Handy scheduled sentencing for Dec. 19.
