Randallstown Man Charged In Towson Comfort Inn Homicide

BALTIMORE COUNTY, MD — A Randallstown man has been charged with murder in the death of a Pennsylvania man at the Towson Comfort Inn. Police said that he was arrested Thursday.

Deonte James Griffin, 26, of the 3700 block of Eastman Road in Randallstown, is charged with first-degree murder, first-degree assault and using a firearm in a violent crime.

The charges came after a phone call to 911 from someone who witnessed the beginning of what authorities said turned into a deadly exchange.

Authorities said they were called to the 8800 block of Loch Raven Boulevard for a report of a person with a gun after 2:26 a.m. on Thursday, July 18.

Jeremiah David Koch, 30, of Lenhartsville, Pennsylvania, was found dead inside a hotel room with trauma to the upper body that police said was believed to be from a gunshot wound. His body was taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for an autopsy.

Koch had been summoned to the hotel room by another man to calm Griffin, who had been in the room in an agitated state, police said.

When Koch came in, Griffin allegedly pulled out a gun and the third man, who had brought Koch into the situation, ran out and called 911 and reported hearing shots fired.

Griffin is being held at the Baltimore County Department of Corrections without bail.

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