Gordon Staron was also convicted of all counts by a jury in a separate case prosecuted by Homicide Team Captain Tonya LaPolla

Baltimore, Md. (October 1, 2024) - Today, the Baltimore City State's Attorney’s Office announced that defendant Gordon Staron has pled guilty to the fatal strangulation of his cellmate, Javarick Gantt, in Baltimore City's Central Booking and Intake Facility. Staron pled guilty to First-Degree Murder. In another case, Staron was also convicted by a Baltimore City Jury of First-Degree Murder, First-Degree Assault, Second-Degree Assault, Openly Wearing and Carrying a Dangerous Weapon, and Second-Degree Murder for killing Keith Bell, age 66, at a bus stop with an axe on the 1400 block of E. Monument Street. Homicide Division Team Captain Tonya LaPolla prosecuted that case. Staron is scheduled for sentencing for both cases on December 19. 

“It has been my privilege to work alongside our talented Homicide Team Captain, Ms. Tonya LaPolla, to deliver justice on behalf of the two families who have lost their loved ones because of this defendant's violent and unconscionable actions,” said State’s Attorney Ivan J. Bates. “When I campaigned for this office, I promised to be a champion and defender of our older adult and disabled community in Baltimore, and the outcomes of these cases will undoubtedly ensure that Mr. Staron is never back on our streets to commit more malicious acts against vulnerable individuals.

In January, State's Attorney Bates entered his appearance in one of Mr. Staron's cases, the first Baltimore City case to be prosecuted by a sitting State's Attorney in nearly a decade.

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