A Baltimore City jury acquitted 37-year-old Gregory Stewart of every charge against him this week, including attempted first-degree murder, after the woman prosecutors say he shot never appeared in court to testify. The case stemmed from a January shooting that left a woman with a gunshot wound and, according to charging documents, ended with Stewart fleeing the scene in a car that wasn't his.
According to Baltimore Witness, whose reporter Nilah Waller covered the trial, prosecutors built their case around an argument between Stewart and his former girlfriend, with whom he shares a child. Charging documents state that the former girlfriend had gone to the Gerland Avenue residence intending to take Stewart to work, and that she confronted him about drinking. Stewart allegedly followed her inside the residence, according to the charging documents, and the confrontation escalated from there.
Prosecutors alleged that Stewart struck his former girlfriend with a handgun and fired two shots, according to the charging documents. Another woman inside the home attempted to flee and was struck in the foot by one of the bullets, per the seed reporting. Stewart then allegedly fled the scene driving his former girlfriend's 2008 Mercury Grand Marquis without her permission, according to the same account.
Charges Stacked High, Verdict Came Back Clean
Stewart faced a lengthy list of charges: attempted first-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault, reckless endangerment, handgun possession on his person, firearm possession in connection with a violent crime, firearm use in a felony or violent crime, and motor vehicle unlawful taking. Under Maryland Criminal Law § 2-205, attempted first-degree murder carries a maximum statutory sentence of life imprisonment, as outlined by the Maryland General Assembly. The attempted second-degree murder count alone exposed him to up to 30 years in prison, according to the Carey Law Office.
A Baltimore Police detective testified that both women had identified Stewart as responsible for the shooting, and Stewart's former girlfriend reportedly identified him during a recorded interview with detectives. But that recorded identification became the centerpiece of the state's case for a troubling reason: the victim was supposed to testify against Stewart but did not appear in court.
Case Rested on a Witness Who Never Showed
Without the victim on the stand, prosecutors were left leaning on detective testimony and the prior recorded interview to try to connect Stewart to the shooting. The prosecution asked jurors to focus on the evidence presented during the trial and argued that no crime goes unpunished. Defense attorney Brandon Thornton countered by telling jurors to weigh the witnesses and evidence the state had actually presented in the courtroom, then asked them to determine simply whether Stewart was guilty or not guilty based on what they had seen and heard.
The jury sided with the defense, acquitting Stewart of all charges. The trial was presided over by Baltimore City Circuit Court Associate Judge Jeffrey M. Geller, who was appointed to the bench in May 2012 and previously served as a Baltimore City assistant public defender from 1998 to 2002, according to the Maryland Manual On-Line.
Earlier Reporting Named a Different Victim
Stewart's acquittal caps a case that looked different in its earliest stages. When Hoodline first reported on the shooting in February, court records relayed by WBFF had identified the wounded woman as Stewart's 59-year-old mother, with the initial dispute described as an argument over Stewart's plan to work while intoxicated. That account was never resolved against the trial testimony, which centered instead on Stewart's former girlfriend and the second woman shot in the foot while fleeing; the dossier does not clarify how the two versions relate. What is documented is that Northeast District patrol officers were dispatched to the 5400 block of Gerland Avenue at 7:52 p.m. on January 20, where they found a 59-year-old woman with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound before emergency personnel took her to a hospital, according to the Baltimore Police Department. Warrant Apprehension detectives arrested Stewart two days later in Anne Arundel County and transferred him to Baltimore's Central Booking Intake Facility.
A Pattern of Cases Collapsing Without Witnesses
Stewart's acquittal fits into a broader pattern local court reporters have flagged in recent months. Baltimore Witness court reporting from earlier this month highlighted several Baltimore City Circuit Court attempted murder trials where prosecutors faced steep evidentiary hurdles when key victims or witnesses failed to appear. Out-of-court identifications, however credible to detectives, often are not enough on their own to convince a jury beyond a reasonable doubt without a victim willing to take the stand.
The acquittal also lands against a backdrop of falling gun violence citywide. Baltimore recorded 187 non-fatal shootings and 60 homicides through August 3, a 25.9% drop in homicides compared to the same period in 2025, according to the City of Baltimore. Police logged a 54% clearance rate for non-fatal shooting cases and a 60% clearance rate for homicides during the first six months of the year, though clearing a case with an arrest is no guarantee of a conviction, as Stewart's trial demonstrated.
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