A federal jury convicted a 26-year-old Baltimore man of murder, gun and drug charges related to the the abduction, robbery and killing of a man shot near light rail tracks in South Baltimore in 2016.
Sydni Frazier was indicted in 2017 as part of the federal case against members and associates of the Murdaland Mafia Piru gang, a subset of the Bloods said to have controlled the drug trade in Northwest Baltimore and nearby areas in Baltimore County.
At a six-day trial that concluded late Tuesday, Frazier was accused of taking part in the August 10, 2016 abduction of Ricardo Johnson, who was snatched as he returned to his apartment in the 1100 block of W. Lanvale Street. Four hours later, Johnson’s body was found inside a stolen minivan parked near the light rail tracks in Westport.
Johnson was bound by the wrists and ankles and blindfolded, and was shot more than 20 times, prosecutors said. Prosecutors alleged the motive was to rob Johnson’s drug stash, but he was also targeted because members of the gang believed he was cooperating with law enforcement.
On the day of the killings Frazier was riding a dirt bike when police tried to stop him. He ditched a bag containing two loaded guns, two cell phones, and gloves. Prosecutors said DNA from both Johnson and Frazier was found on the gloves, while the guns matched the casings found at the murder scene.
Prosecutors gained additional evidence linking Frazier to one of the guns in November 2017, after they raided a vacant home in Harlem Park without a warrant while investigating the death of Baltimore Police Detective Sean Suiter. The house, adjacent to the lot where Suiter was shot, was Frazier’s childhood home and he was renovating it for use as an assisted care facility. But police said exigent circumstances and the abandoned appearance of the building led to their decision to enter without a warrant.
Inside, police found a gun box with a serial number matching one of the weapons found in the bag Frazier discarded while fleeing police in August 2016. Frazier had been incarcerated since January 2017 on weapons charges.
Frazier’s attorneys argued that police conducted an illegal search when they entered the home, and noted that a detective misled a judge in seeking a warrant after the fact by falsely claiming that there was a blood trail from where Suiter was shot. Judge Catherine C. Blake denied a motion to suppress the evidence.
Frazier faces a maximum sentence of life in prison for possession of firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking resulting in death, plus additional sentences for other drug and firearms counts.