A high-stakes courtroom do-over is underway in North Baltimore, where jury selection began Tuesday in the retrial of Dionte Cain, accused in a 2024 parking lot shooting outside a Family Dollar on the 5300 block of York Road. The first trial ended in a mistrial last fall after jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict, sending the case back to the Cummings Courthouse. Prosecutors say the incident left a man with gunshot wounds to his left wrist and right thigh.
Jury selection opened June 2 and is expected to continue through the week before Judge Lawrence P. Fletcher-Hill. Cain, 32, is facing a slate of charges that includes attempted murder, first-degree assault, reckless endangerment, multiple conspiracy counts, and several handgun violations, according to reporting from Baltimore Witness.
Police timeline
Baltimore Police say the shooting unfolded on April 2, 2024, when officers responding to a three-vehicle crash on the 3900 block of Greenmount Avenue found a 76-year-old man suffering from gunshot wounds. Detectives later identified a crime scene on the 5300 block of York Road, outside the Family Dollar parking lot, where surveillance video reportedly showed a burgundy Acura MDX entering the lot. The department urged anyone with information to contact Northern District detectives, according to the Baltimore Police Department.
Co-defendant’s plea and testimony
Prosecutors say a co-defendant, 29-year-old Darnell Johnson, pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to commit armed robbery, acting as an accessory after the fact, and having a loaded handgun in a vehicle, then agreed to testify against Cain. Johnson took the stand last October and was released on his own recognizance pending sentencing, court coverage shows. Prosecutors have described his testimony, including Johnson’s claim that Cain admitted to the shooting, as a central part of their case, according to Baltimore Witness.
Legal stakes and next steps
The charges Cain faces are among the most serious in Maryland and carry substantial prison exposure if he is convicted. Proceedings are taking place at the Cummings Courthouse in downtown Baltimore, where Judge Lawrence P. Fletcher-Hill is listed among the circuit court’s judges. The court is expected to hear witness testimony and forensic evidence as both sides push for a unanimous verdict, according to the Baltimore City Circuit Court.
