Maryland
Maryland man to be sentenced for killing man with axe, murder of Baltimore cellmate
BALTIMORE — A Harford County man is expected to be sentenced Thursday morning after he was convicted of killing a man with an axe and pled guilty to murdering his cellmate, according to Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan Bates.
In September 2022, Gordon Staron was charged with using an axe to kill a 63-year-old man at a bus station in the 1400 block of East Monument Street, police said. The victim – Keith Bell – died at a hospital.
Staron was taken to the Baltimore City Central Booking Intake Facility and charged with first-degree murder, according to police.
In October 2022, the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services said a deaf detainee at the booking facility was found unresponsive.
Javarick Gantt, 34, of Annapolis had been detained in the facility since July 1, 2022, officials said. His death was later ruled a homicide.
In January 2023, State’s Attorney Bates announced he would join the prosecution team in Gantt’s murder trial and said he intended to seek a sentence of life without the possibility of parole. It was the first time a Baltimore City case was prosecuted by a sitting State’s Attorney in nearly a decade, his office said.
“Here, you have a suspect who’s alleged to have committed two separate murders, one on an older adult and one on a vulnerable adult,” Bates said, explaining why he took the case.
Bates has raised questions about the city’s jail system and backlogged courts. After the incident, jail officials refused to answer questions about why Staron was being housed with Gantt, a disabled man who was facing relatively minor charges.
In October, Staron pled guilty to murder. He is expected to be sentenced for both cases on Thursday morning.
“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,” Bates said.
Police said Dequan Gravely, 23, of Charles County, was driving northbound on Route 210 near Pine Drive when his Mercedes collided with the school bus turning left from the southbound lanes.
The driver of a car involved in a crash with a Prince George’s County school bus in Accokeek, Maryland, on Friday has been identified.
Prince George’s County police said Dequan Gravely, 23, of Bryans Road in Charles County, was driving northbound on Route 210 near Pine Drive around 7:20 a.m. when his Mercedes collided with the school bus turning left from the southbound lanes.
Investigators said the crash happened in the intersection, causing the school bus to flip onto its side. Gravely died at the scene.
The school bus driver was transported to a hospital and treated for injuries that were not considered life-threatening. Police said no students were on the bus at the time of the crash.
Investigators said they believe debris from the collision damaged a third vehicle. The driver of that vehicle “declined medical attention,” police said.
The Prince George’s County Police Department’s Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Unit is investigating. Anyone with information is asked to contact investigators at 301-731-4422.
WTOP’s Acacia James contributed to this report.
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A D.C. man won $5 million from a scratch-off lottery ticket in Maryland last week, and the matching number that netted him the prize happened to be his age.
Talk about a birthday surprise! A D.C. man won $5 million from a scratch-off lottery ticket in Maryland last week, and the matching number that netted him the prize happened to be his age.
Maurice Williams, a school bus driver in D.C., claimed the first top prize on a $5,000,000 LUXE scratch-off. He had used his $50 winnings from a previous LUXE scratch-off ticket to buy a new one the next day.
In a release from the Maryland Lottery, Williams said he didn’t know he had won until he scanned the ticket: “It’s crazy because the matching number was 59 and I just turned 59 the other day.”
Williams said he sat in shock for a while before calling his mother.
He said he plans to buy his mother a house with the winnings and then save up.
Two more top prizes from the scratch-off have yet to be claimed, the Maryland Lottery said, as well as nine $200,000 prizes, 10 $50,000 prizes and thousands of prizes ranging from $50 to $10,000.
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© 2026 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
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