A Baltimore City Circuit Court trial imploded on Tuesday after a juror reportedly told fellow panel members “the defendant is cooked,” as per Baltimore Witness, triggering an immediate defense demand for a reset in a killing case that traces back to May 31, 2025. The defendant, Braxton Day, is accused of fatally shooting 42-year-old Bryant Breland outside a Family Dollar on the 600 block of Cherry Hill Road. Judge Jeannie J. Hong dismissed the entire jury and said a new panel would be picked later that day while the court tried to untangle concerns about whether jurors could stay impartial.
Judge: Juror Research Undermined Impartiality
Defense attorney Maureen O’Leary asked for a mistrial after the court learned that at least one juror had looked up information about the case and then shared an opinion in the jury room, according to the judge. Day is facing charges that include manslaughter, use of a firearm in a felony violent crime, having a handgun on his person, and possession of a firearm without a serial number. The medical examiner testified that Breland’s death was a homicide caused by a gunshot wound.
Prosecutors also played surveillance video they say shows an argument that escalated before Day allegedly shot Breland. Evidence and witness testimony were still coming in when Judge Hong cut the trial short and discharged the jury. As reported by Baltimore Witness.
Family Dollar Cases In Baltimore Courts
In recent months, city courtrooms have seen a string of cases tied to shootings near Family Dollar stores, a reminder of how often parking-lot violence ends up in front of juries. One of those cases is a separate Family Dollar parking-lot shooting in North Baltimore, where a retrial began with jury selection in early June. That case, like Day’s, leans heavily on surveillance footage and eyewitness accounts to fill in what happened in the lot.
As reported by the retrial of a separate Family Dollar parking-lot shooting.
What Comes Next
The mistrial gives prosecutors a clean slate to pursue a new trial. The next procedural steps, including resetting the trial schedule, selecting a fresh jury, and handling any new pretrial motions, now fall to Baltimore City prosecutors and the court. By Tuesday afternoon, the original panel was out and the court was already moving to seat a new jury.
Defense lawyers will have to decide whether to seek any additional remedies or simply gear up to present their case again at retrial. For Breland’s family and the wider Cherry Hill community, the mistrial means more waiting in a case already closely watched for its mix of surveillance video, forensic testimony, and now, a dramatic mid-trial collapse.
