A Baltimore County man was convicted Thursday of first-degree premeditated murder in a deadly 2019 shooting in Dundalk, according to prosecutors.
Dwayne Kenneth Taylor, 42, is scheduled to be sentenced July 16 in Baltimore County Circuit Court. The maximum sentence for first-degree murder in Maryland is life without parole.
On March 27, 2019, police found Gerrard Eugene Taylor — who is not related to Dwayne Taylor — in an alleyway with a gunshot wound to the head near the 400 block of Avondale Road in Dundalk.
He was taken to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center where he died two days later after being removed from life support, according to a news release from the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office.
The Morning Sun
According to prosecutors, Dwayne Taylor had been pursuing Gerrard Taylor for several months as a result of a dispute with him and one other individual.
Police said Gerrard Taylor attempted to run before Dwayne Taylor fired 10 shots with one striking and killing him.
Much of the shooting was captured on cellphone video after Dwayne Taylor unintentionally dropped his phone at the scene, according to the state’s attorney’s office. Information obtained on the phone implicated Dwayne Taylor and provided information on the motive for the shooting.
In addition to the convictions for first-degree murder and use of a firearm, Dwayne Taylor was convicted of illegal possession of a firearm due to a prior conviction for a crime which disqualified him from possessing a handgun.
Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger, in a statement, congratulated police and prosecutors for protecting Baltimore County residents from “senseless and brutal gun violence,” and their efforts “to achieve some justice for the family of Gerrard Taylor.”
A message left seeking comment from Mark Van Bavel, listed in online court records as Dwayne Taylor’s attorney, was not immediately returned Friday.