The Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office has extended plea offers to five people charged in the mass shooting that killed two and wounded 28 others in the Brooklyn neighborhood and set a deadline of May 31 to accept any agreement.
Michael Dunty, chief of the homicide division in the Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office, did not disclose the terms on Wednesday during a status hearing. He said he sent them in writing to the defense attorneys.
“We are actively negotiating some of those pleas,” Dunty told Baltimore Circuit Judge Melissa K. Copeland. “We are asking the court to allow us about one more month to hammer out the details.”
Copeland scheduled the next hearing in the cases for June 7 though people who reach plea agreements can return to court before that date.
The mass shooting happened at about 12:30 a.m. on July 2, 2023, in the Brooklyn Homes housing project, where hundreds of people had gathered for an annual celebration called Brooklyn Day.
Aaliyah Gonzalez, 18, a recent graduate of Glen Burnie High School, was pronounced dead at the scene. Kylis Fagbemi, 20, a forklift operator, died at a hospital.
No one has been charged with murder in their deaths.
Tristan Jackson and Aaron Brown, both 19, are charged with attempted first- and second-degree murder and related offenses.
A 15-year-old and 16-year-old are charged with attempted first- and second-degree murder and related offenses.
Warren Brown, the 15-year-old’s attorney, said he expects that his client will accept the plea agreement.
“I’m optimistic that we will be able to resolve this case short of trial,” said John Cox, the 16-year-old’s attorney.
Mikhi Jackson, 18, is charged with possession of a regulated firearm by a person under 21 and related offenses. He was 17 at the time.
Baltimore Police found in a 173-page report that officer indifference and a system of failures prevented the city from taking action before and during the large gathering.
Correction: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Aaliyah Gonzalez’s first name.
