Dietrich Baker pleaded guilty Friday to second-degree murder while armed in connection with the 2012 death of James Ray Sherrod.
Baker, 23, had been in custody since April 30, 2012 – two days after Sherrod’s death. He waived his right to a preliminary hearing last year.
In January, a grand jury indicted Baker on first-degree murder charges and four weapons charges.
Under the terms of the plea deal, prosecutors and Baker’s attorney agreed on a sentence of 23 years in prison. Judge Herbert Dixon is due to decide whether to accept the agreement and sentence Baker to that term June 28 at 9:30 a.m.
Charging documents relied on the testimony of two witnesses, in addition to a surveillence video. According to those accounts, Sherrod approached the bus stop, greeted Baker, and spoke with him briefly. “Within seconds, [Baker] produced a large handgun and started shooting at [Sherrod], striking him multiple times,” the documents stated.
He then ran across the street and behind a building, leaving a backpack in a dumpster. Police later found the backpack along with a gun with five spent cartridge casings and one live round inside the chamber, according to documents.
A copy of the plea agreement is below:
