No Charges Filed In Deadly 2025 Essex Shooting

PERRY HALL, MD — The Maryland Attorney General's Office said no charges will be filed in a deadly December 2025 shooting that involved Baltimore County officers.

A release by officials states that after reviewing evidence for more than three months, authorities determined none of the involved officers had committed a crime under state law.

The conclusion stems from the case of 31-year-old Howard Sye, an Essex man who was shot in the stairwell outside his apartment by four officers with the Baltimore County Police Department.

Police said authorities encountered Sye on Dec. 3, when officers were called at 8:30 p.m. to the 900 block of Holgate Drive for reports of a stabbing.

At the scene, Sye refused commands to drop a knife and proceeded to punch an officer when they attempted to forcibly remove the weapon, police said. That was when officers fired their firearms.

Sye was pronounced dead at the scene.

At the time, officials found Sye's sister suffering from a stab wound inside his apartment, according to CBS Baltimore.

The outlet reported Sye's family contacted police so they would de-escalate the situation. "If we'd known it was going to end like this, we'd have probably tried to take matters into our own hands, like driving my sister to the hospital or something of that nature," Tiffany Elliot told CBS Baltimore.