5 Charged In Baltimore Mass Shooting May Stand Trial Together: Report

BALTIMORE, MD — A judge on Friday scheduled a hearing to decide whether the five people charged in connection with a mass shooting at a Baltimore block party that killed two people and injured several others will stand trial together, according to a Baltimore Banner report.

A judge scheduled the hearing for March 7 after two of the defendants, Tristan Jackson and Aaron Brown, both 18, appeared in Baltimore Circuit Court on Friday, according to the Banner.

Brown was charged with 75 counts, including attempted murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, assault and weapons charges. Meanwhile, Jackson faces more than 50 counts related to the shooting, Baltimore police said.

Three others — a 17-year-old boy, a 15-year-old boy and a 14-year-old boy — have also been charged in connection with the July 2 shooting.

Authorities said the shooting happened just after 12:30 a.m. when at least two people opened fire at a party in the city's Brooklyn neighborhood. Police Commissioner Richard Worley previously said it wasn't clear if the shooting was targeted or random.

The shooting victims ranged in age from 13 to 32 years old, and 15 were minors, police said.

Aaliyah Gonzalez, 18, was pronounced dead at the scene and Kylis Fagbemi, 20, died at a hospital, according to police.

In September, authorities arrested the 15-year-old boy and charged him with 44 counts, including attempted first- and second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and reckless endangerment.

The 14-year-old boy faces 18 counts including attempted first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, police said.

The 17-year-old boy, whom police said brandished a gun hours before the shooting, has been ordered to stand trial as an adult, the Banner reported.

The arrests followed weeks of scrutiny of the Baltimore Police Department's response to the shooting.

Residents of Brooklyn Homes had called the police hours before gunfire broke out, saying the party was getting out of hand and some attendees were armed with guns and knives. But a "catastrophic breakdown" in communication led to inaction from officers until it was too late, officials said at a public hearing following the shooting.

A report released in August found Baltimore police ignored multiple warning signs and failed to take proactive measures in the hours leading up to the mass shooting, failures that could indicate officer bias.

Worley promised command-level leadership changes in response to the findings. He said some officers have already been reassigned and the disciplinary process is underway against those deemed responsible.

"We know we made mistakes," he said. "We will continue to fix what went wrong."

In November, the families of the two people killed in the shooting announced plans to file a lawsuit against the city, the state of Maryland and several other agencies over the incident.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.