Three Life Sentences Handed Down in Pigtown Barbershop Fatal Shooting Case

Baltimore, Md. (November 4, 2026) – Today, the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office announced the sentences of co-defendants Terrill Barfield, Jarvis Joyner, and James Hammond for their role in the fatal shooting of 36-year-old Deon Beasley in January of 2024 at the 700 block of Carroll Street. The defendants were convicted of charges, including First-Degree Murder, Use of a Firearm in the Commission of a Crime of Violence, Conspiracy to Use a Firearm in the Commission of a Crime of Violence, and Reckless Endangerment. A fourth co-defendant, Lakeem Whitaker, is still pending sentencing on February 9, 2027, and faces Life, suspending all but 60 years. Assistant State’s Attorney Justin Greer prosecuted this case. 

“These defendants were repeat offenders who had no right to carry firearms and used them to open fire inside a crowded business in broad daylight. Their actions took the life of 36-year-old Deon Beasley and put countless innocent people at risk,” said State’s Attorney Ivan J. Bates. “Let this sentence send a clear message: It does not matter whether you pull the trigger, drive the getaway car, or organize the violence. If you play a role in murdering someone in Baltimore City, you will be held accountable. We will pursue every person involved, and you will risk spending the rest of your life behind bars. There is no lesser role in a murder, and there will be no safe haven for those who believe they can participate in this kind of violence and escape justice. I want to thank Assistant State’s Attorney Justin Greer for his outstanding work in prosecuting these cases and ensuring these defendants are held accountable for their actions.”

Defendant Terrill Barfield was sentenced to Life plus 25 years.
Defendant Jarvis Joyner was sentenced to Life plus 20 years.
Defendant James Hammond was sentenced to Life plus 60 years.

On January 12, 2024, at approximately 4:13 p.m., Baltimore Police located Deon Beasley suffering from an apparent gunshot wound in the 700 block of Carroll Street. The victim was transported and succumbed to his injuries at 4:39 p.m. While canvassing the immediate area, a patrol officer observed a silver colored Honda Odyssey traveling at a high rate of speed. The officer attempted to stop the vehicle by activating lights and sirens, but the vehicle failed to stop. Police pursued the vehicle onto Interstate 295, where officers used vehicle maneuvers to disable the van. Officers identified the driver as Terrill Barfield and the front-seat passenger as Jarvis Joyner. A phone belonging to Barfield was subsequently located and recovered.

The preliminary investigation revealed that the shooting initially occurred inside a barber shop located at 801 Washington Blvd. Investigators recovered two .22 caliber cartridge casings inside the barbershop and three 9mm cartridge casings along the 500 block of Scott Street. Surveillance footage from the surrounding area captured the events before, during, and immediately after the shooting.

Footage shows the silver Honda Odyssey minivan circling the area around the barbershop. At that time, a driver and front passenger are visible in the vehicle. After circling back onto Washington Blvd., the Odyssey driver dropped off two males a few blocks from the barbershop. Those individuals then began walking toward the barbershop along Washington Blvd. The driver of the Odyssey then drove towards the barbershop again. As the Odyssey passed the barbershop a second time, the front-seat passenger turned his body and head toward the barbershop. The driver of the Odyssey then turned the vehicle left at the intersection onto Scott Street. The individuals dropped off by the driver of the Odyssey then entered the barbershop and began shooting at the victim while other patrons were inside. The victim attempted to run away outside of the barbershop and was chased by the two individuals, who continued to shoot at the victim.

The victim ran through Scott Street, Eislen Street, Otterbein Street, and Carroll Street. The two shooters then fled toward Washington Blvd. and turned onto W. Barre Street, and then onto Ramsay Street. Footage then shows one shooter discarding a firearm down a storm drain on Ramsay Street and then shows him beginning to remove dark-colored clothing that he was wearing. Detectives canvassed this area on January 13, 2024, but were unable to recover the disposed firearm. They located dark-colored clothing along the shooters’ path of travel.

During the course of the investigation, detectives were able to determine that on January 12, 2024, Defendant Terrill Barfield shared a video of the victim with Defendant Jarvis Joyner. Further text messages with Defendant Joyner indicated a plan to pick up other individuals, including a contact named “Gizzle.” Detectives also monitored jail calls around the time of the homicide and located a call placed by an inmate to Defendant Lakeem Whitaker. During that call, Defendant Whitaker described how Jarvis Joyner and Terrill Barfield got into a high-speed chase and were arrested. Whitaker then described that there was something else, other than the car chase, that he had to talk to the inmate about pertaining to firearms.

On January 17, 2024, Defendant Whitaker was arrested as part of a drug-related search and seizure at a vacant property in the 400 block of S. Bentalou Street. At that time, a .22 caliber firearm was located in proximity to Whitaker, and he was also observed wearing a pair of black and white Under Armour shoes, matching those worn by one of the shooters. Whitaker is also 5’3” tall, whereas that same shooter appears to be shorter in stature in the surveillance footage. A microscopic comparison between the .22 caliber cartridge casings located at the crime scene and the recovered firearm shows consistency with one another. Whitaker’s DNA was also present on the firearm.

During the investigation, detectives received a CODIS hit for some of the clothing that had been
recovered at the crime scene on January 13. Accordingly, detectives obtained a search warrant for James Hammond’s DNA. A DNA analysis showed that Hammond’s DNA was on some of
the clothing observed in the footage worn by one of the shooters. A review of Hammond’s social
media revealed that he goes by the nickname “Jizzle.”

All four defendants are prohibited from possessing regulated firearms due to prior felony convictions.