By Tashi McQueen
AFRO Staff Writer
tmcqueen@afro.com
The trial for Daaon Spears, 18, who was accused of fatally shooting Deanta Dorsey, 16, in 2023, has ended in a mistrial.
Around 3 p.m. on Oct. 24, jurists reported that they could not come to a unanimous decision in the case. In response, Judge Robert K. Taylor Jr. declared it a mistrial.
“The [jury] was stuck within the first two hours,” said Brandon Taylor, Spears’ attorney, shortly after the trial ended. “It’s disappointing, you know. We have to go through this whole process again.”
The Dorsey family reacted to the news through their representative, Thiruvendran “Thiru” Vignarajah.
“This family has a deep reservoir of strength and patience. They’ve waited a long time for justice, and they can wait a little longer,” said Vignarajah in a statement. “Holdout jurors are not uncommon in Baltimore, and the evidence presented in open court this week renews the faith of this family that justice will ultimately be [served].”
The prosecution’s case in this trial primarily relied on circumstantial evidence. During the trial, Rita Wisthoff-Ito, the prosecutor, presented surveillance videos, police-worn body camera footage and 911 recordings to make her case.
(Photo courtesy of Brandon Taylor)
Callers in the 911 clips can be heard depicting the scene to dispatchers while wails and police sirens are audible in the background.
Descriptions provided by the 911 callers matched the photo shown to jurors showing two suspects fleeing in all black.
The prosecutor also used an array of witnesses who retrieved or analyzed evidence related to the crime.
Megan Descalzi, a crime laboratory technician for the Baltimore Police Department (BPD), testified about what she saw when taking photos at 4000 Edmondson Ave., a location believed to be Spears’ home.
Descalzi identified two mattresses in a basement, a pile of black clothing, a book bag that is believed to have contained a box of bullets, and a firearm magazine found lying on one of the mattresses.
The technician pulled out the clothing in the courtroom, showing the jury a black jacket, black jeans, navy blue pants with white stripes down the sides, black and white sneakers and some other items.
Two boxes of 9mm bullets were identified in the basement, one full and one with just a few bullets remaining.
Taylor pointed out that the 911 callers said the suspects were in all black, not blue.
Taylor said it is not clear when Spears will get another trial – if the prosecution decides to try the case again – but he estimates it would occur sometime next year.
“It shouldn’t be too long from now, but we have to get back in line,” he said.
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