A masked robbery near the Baltimore & Annapolis Trail ended with an 18-year-old Glen Burnie High School senior dead and, more than a year later, two of his killers sentenced to life in prison. Mekhi Andrew Duncan and Mactouko Junior Ryan, both 18, were sentenced in connection with the May 2025 murder of Jonathan Benjamin Guiliani, who was shot and killed while walking along the trail with another person.
Guilty Pleas Bring Life Sentences
Duncan, of Baltimore, pleaded guilty to first-degree felony murder in July and was sentenced to life in prison with all but 35 years suspended, according to Fox Baltimore. Ryan, of Elkridge, also pleaded guilty to first-degree felony murder and received a life sentence with all but 25 years suspended. A third person charged in the case was adjudicated as a juvenile, the station reported.
The sentencings were announced by the Anne Arundel County State's Attorney's Office. State's Attorney Anne Colt Leitess said the sentences demonstrate justice and accountability for a senseless crime, and added that the court's sentences reflect the gravity of the defendants' actions and their youthful ages. She also said Guiliani's family has endured pain that no family should have to suffer, per the same account.
A Robbery That Turned Deadly
Guiliani was found suffering from a gunshot wound after police and fire crews responded to the 800 block of Aquahart Road around 4:50 a.m. on May 4, 2025, according to the Anne Arundel County Police Department. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Guiliani and another person had been walking along the Baltimore & Annapolis Trail when several masked suspects, armed with handguns equipped with laser lights, announced a robbery, per the same account.
Guiliani struggled with one of the suspects over a handgun, which fired and struck him, the report states. The second victim ran as suspects fired toward him and ultimately escaped. Police said the apparent motive was robbery and a crime of opportunity, according to WBAL-TV, though an earlier update from Anne Arundel County police had said detectives were still working to establish a motive for the shooting.
Forensic Evidence Tied Suspects to the Scene
Investigators recovered 17 9mm shell casings and a laser-light attachment near the scene, with items also discarded near a nearby Exxon gas station, the report notes. Ryan's DNA matched DNA recovered from the laser attachment, and detectives believed the attachment fell from a gun during the shooting.
Surveillance video and license-plate-reader images helped investigators identify a white Acura, which was later found burned in Baltimore City. Cellphone records placed Duncan, Ryan and the juvenile near the scene and at the location where the stolen Acura was later found, the outlet's report states.
Guiliani's death was laid out in an earlier account from reportannapolis.com, which described him as the Glen Burnie High School senior found shot to death on Aquahart Road. Under Maryland law, first-degree murder includes killings committed during the perpetration or attempted perpetration of specified felonies, according to the Maryland General Assembly's statute text, a definition consistent with the felony murder pleas entered by both Duncan and Ryan.
