March 28, afternoon, from the SA's Office

Phillip Johnson, convicted by a Baltimore City jury on January 19, got 12 years for first-degree assault and handgun counts.

On August 10, 2005 at approximately 8:00 a.m., a Baltimore Police Officer conducting a traffic stop near the Smallwood MARC train station, heard several gunshots. The officer witnessed Johnson firing a handgun at an unidentified man while chasing him down the 500 block of Pulaski Street. The officer apprehended Johnson after a foot chase through an alley. Several eyewitnesses identified Johnson as the person firing the gun at the man.

At the request of the defense, Judge Martin P. Welch remanded 15-year-old Jermaine Sanders to the jurisdiction of the juvenile courts. The State wanted Sanders to be tried as an adult for first-degree murder.

Court documents alleged that at approximately 10AM December 1, 2006 Jermaine Sanders stabbed his brother, Jason Sanders, 17, in their home following a verbal dispute. Police discovered Jason Sanders lying in the 1100 block of N. Chester Street near the corner of N. Chester and E. Biddle Street. Jason Sanders died later at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Judge David Mitchell sentenced 19-year-old Davon Jones to 30 years and 20-year-old Derrick Gardner to 23 years for attempted murder and handgun counts.

On January 10, 2006, the victim, Jerome Smith, was walking in the 2500 block of Druid Park Drive when he was confronted by Gardner who asked Smith about $70 he owed their drug boss. Jones joined Gardner. Smith did not have the money and turned to flee. Gardner pulled out a silver revolver and shot Smith in the back. Smith stumbled across the street and fell down in the woods. Jones and Gardner followed and Jones took the handgun from Gardner and shot Smith himself. Lying prone, Smith held his arms up to defend himself and was hit on the inside of his upper forearm. Police responded minutes after the shooting and Smith was transported to Sinai Hospital were he was treated and released the next day. Smith was subsequently found guilty of violating his probation for drug distribution and is currently serving a two year sentence.