A Baltimore jury has found 29-year-old Diamante Teal guilty of murdering a 16-year-old in a 2019 ambush outside a shopping center on The Alameda, closing a years-long chapter in a case that rattled North Baltimore. After a six-day trial and roughly five hours of deliberation, jurors returned guilty verdicts on first-degree murder, conspiracy, and multiple firearm and assault charges. The shooting left the teen dead and two women wounded, and Teal will stay jailed without bond until his August sentencing.
Evidence shown at trial
According to a press release from the Attorney General's Office, prosecutors leaned heavily on surveillance footage, social media, and forensic work to make their case. Video showed a man identified as Teal wearing distinctive blue shoes, while separate photographs depicted him holding a gold-spray-painted assault-style rifle.
Investigators recovered 18 .223-caliber shell casings outside the Subway, and at trial the state walked jurors through phone and social-media records that they said tied Teal to the ambush. Prosecutors also introduced video and forensic evidence connecting the suspects to a Buick Verano that investigators had zeroed in on during the probe.
Co-defendants and timeline
The shooting was not treated as an isolated act. Prosecutors said Teal’s case was part of a broader investigation into several linked incidents across North Baltimore in the summer of 2019. Getaway driver Phillip Morton was convicted in March 2026, and a third defendant, William Stewart, is set to stand trial in October, according to CBS Baltimore.
Teal was also convicted of an armed robbery at a carryout in June 2019. Jurors took about five hours to reach their verdicts on all counts, capping a long-running prosecution that authorities say tied together multiple acts of violence.
Attorney General's statement
In a statement released by the Attorney General's Office, Attorney General Anthony G. Brown put the focus on the toll to the community.
"No family should have to bury a sixteen-year-old, no Marylander should be shot for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and no community should have to live in fear of the kind of brazen, senseless violence that Diamante Teal inflicted on The Alameda," Brown said.
The Attorney General’s Office credited its prosecutors, Baltimore Police, and federal ATF agents for the years of investigative work that led to Teal’s conviction and Morton’s earlier guilty verdict.
What comes next
Teal now faces the possibility of life in prison on the murder charge and up to 160 years on the remaining counts, with a sentencing hearing set for August 13, 2026, according to CBS Baltimore. Morton, identified as the getaway driver, remains in custody following his conviction earlier this year.
All eyes will be on Stewart’s trial in October, which will determine whether prosecutors secure convictions against every alleged participant in the ambush. Authorities have suggested in court that the group may be tied to other incidents, leaving open legal questions that could continue to play out in state court.
The original attack
The shooting unfolded on July 11, 2019, outside a Subway in the 5600 block of The Alameda, where witnesses reported rapid gunfire and multiple people down, according to WMAR2 News. Local outlets identified the teen victim as 16-year-old Travis Chance. Two women at the shopping center were also hit, treated for their injuries, and survived.
Community leaders and victims' advocates have pointed to the case as another stark example of Baltimore’s ongoing fight against gun violence, and a reminder of how quickly a routine errand can turn deadly when bullets start flying.
