Baltimore City prosecutors say they were forced to drop charges in a violent witness intimidation case after they discovered the suspect was in jail at the time of the shooting.
Damiano Mayo, 24, of the 3100 block of Elmora Avenue in the Four By Four neighborhood of Northeast Baltimore, has been cleared in the October attack, because he was incarcerated and therefore could not have committed the crime, prosecutors said.
Recommended Stories
Police had alleged that at about 1:30 p.m. Oct. 16, Mayo and a friend approached a 22-year-old North Baltimore man who is a witness in a shooting case, and demanded to know where his brother was staying, according to charging documents.
“The victim replied that his brother did not live up here,” Baltimore police Detective Chris Wade wrote in the documents.
Mayo’s friend, known to police only by the nickname “A,” then said: “When my homeboy go to court, when I talk to my homeboy and I find out that you told on him, I’m going to kill everyone in the house,” according to police. “ ‘A’ then made the shape of a gun with his hand and said, ‘Boom, boom, boom!’ ”
After the Oct. 16 encounter at the victim’s home, Mayo and “A” left the area, police said.
The two men returned twice on Oct. 20 and again asked the victim where his brother was, implying a threat against the family, police said.
At 3:10 p.m. Oct. 21, the victim was in the kitchen of the house when he saw the two men approaching the back porch, pulling the hoods of their sweatshirts to cover their faces, charging documents state.
The victim ran into the living room, heard two gunshots and called 911, police said. The men then ran from the scene.
The investigation into the real culprits is ongoing, authorities said.
[email protected]
