A Baltimore judge handed down a life sentence plus 35 years to a man convicted in a broad-daylight killing that prosecutors say came just 48 hours after he walked out of prison. The March 6, 2025, shooting left 28-year-old Taijah Addison dead in a vehicle on the 700 block of Yale Avenue in southwest Baltimore.
Prosecutors said Matthew Crawley was found guilty of first-degree murder, use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence, and possession of a regulated firearm as a prohibited person. The Office of the State's Attorney for Baltimore City announced the conviction and sentence, according to Fox Baltimore, after a jury returned guilty verdicts and the judge imposed life plus 35 years.
Surveillance and the scene
According to police, officers were called around 12:55 p.m. on March 6, 2025, to the 700 block of Yale Avenue, where they found Addison slumped in the driver’s seat of a blue Honda Odyssey. Medics pronounced him dead at the scene. Investigators said patrol officers quickly pulled neighborhood surveillance footage and, within minutes, located a suspect in the 500 block of Yale Avenue, according to a press release from the Baltimore Police Department.
Video and forensics presented at trial
At trial, prosecutors walked jurors through multiple camera angles that they said showed Crawley leaving a nearby home, getting into a parked van, then stepping out of the passenger side and circling Addison’s vehicle. The footage depicted the shooter firing into the driver’s side window before heading back toward a residence. Ballistics evidence and a firearm recovered near the 500 block of Yale Avenue were introduced, and crime lab technicians testified that shell casings and DNA linked the gun to Crawley, according to Baltimore Witness.
Record and reaction
Prosecutors told the court that Crawley had been released from prison roughly two days before the shooting, after serving about a decade for an assault and handgun case out of Baltimore County. While incarcerated, he was also convicted of assaulting a correctional officer, according to WBFF. In a statement, State’s Attorney Ivan Bates said the punishment was meant to match the crime, calling it “Life in prison plus 35 years” that “reflects the severity and depravity of this crime,” according to his office.
Hoodline first reported on Crawley’s arrest when he was charged in March 2025; see earlier coverage of his arrest for the initial case details. With the guilty verdict and sentencing now in place, prosecutors said the outcome closes the criminal case and expressed hope that it offers some measure of accountability to Addison’s family.
Crawley’s convictions on first-degree murder and multiple firearms counts carry some of the heaviest penalties available under Maryland law. With a sentence of life plus 35 years, officials said he is expected to remain in state custody for the rest of his life, according to Baltimore Witness.
