A 19-year-old Owings Mills gang member escaped a murder conviction for a shooting in Columbia last year but still could receive up to 55 years in prison after a Howard County jury found him guilty on five counts of armed robbery and weapons charges.
Daymar Wimbish appeared pleased in the heavily guarded Ellicott City courtroom Wednesday as Judge Lenore Gelfman read the jury's verdicts on eight charges, reached after one day of deliberations.
He was found not guilty of murder in the May 17, 2008, death of Jason P. Batts, 23, who was shot during a robbery attempt of Elijah Jackson, a passenger in Batts' SUV.
Prosecutors Lisa Breton and Colleen McGuinn declined comment until after sentencing, which is scheduled for Sept. 11.
Wimbish is the second person arrested in Batts' death to evade a murder conviction. Ronald McConnell, another Bloods member charged in the case, was found not guilty of murder last month, but he was also convicted of robbery and gun charges. Lamont Johnson, who police say is the shooter, is awaiting trial.
Spencer Hecht, Wimbish's attorney, said he was pleased that his client was found not guilty of murder but that the weapons and robbery charges should also have been dropped.
"I still believe in my heart that the evidence did not show he took the step needed to convict" on robbery, he said. Hecht had argued that Wimbish was just along for the ride that night and played no role in the shooting or robbery attempt. Prosecutors said he was an integral part of a gang revenge plot designed to punish Jackson, who they thought would testify against McConnell in another case. But the robbery plot went awry when Batts moved suddenly, and two shotgun blasts were fired.
