A Howard jury acquitted a Baltimore City man of attempted murder, but convicted him of assault and reckless endangerment.
The verdict against Kazeem Akinyoade Akinniyi, 26, occurred Thursday night after a few hours of deliberation and a three-day trial before Howard Circuit Court Judge Lenore Gelfman.
Akinniyi was accused of breaking into his ex-girlfriend’s apartment this past December in Columbia and stabbing her new boyfriend, Jefferson Bolden, 27, of Baltimore City, according to court records. Akinniyi is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 14.
He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and/or a $2,500 fine for second-degree assault and five years and/or a $5,000 fine for reckless endangerment, said Wayne Kirwan, spokesman for the State’s Attorney’s Office.
The attempted-murder charge carried a maximum life sentence.
Akinniyi testified that his ex-girlfriend invited him to her apartment where he was surprised to see Bolden, and Bolden attacked him, first by throwing punches and then attempting to stab him.
Akinniyi’s attorney, Janette DeBoissiere, said contradictions were found in the testimony of the girlfriend, Sharon Johnson, 26, of Columbia, who didn’t even identify Akinniyi as the person involved in the incident.
The prosecution, led by Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Michael Weal and Assistant Deputy State’s Attorney Mary Murphy, said Akinniyi had deliberately gone to the apartment to harm Bolden.
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