Shave and a Haircut · Close Shaves
Lights Out on Park Avenue
Simms v. State (2025)
Charge: First-degree murder and lesser homicide charges - fatal shooting of an associate inside the defendant's barbershopCourt: Appellate Court of Maryland (appeal from the Circuit Court for Baltimore City)Docket: Close Shaves
Was the barbershop owner criminally responsible for the shooting, or did the victim's own gun go off in a struggle?
The facts
Donte Simms owned a barbershop on Park Avenue in Baltimore. Around 12:43 a.m. on August 15, 2022, paramedics found a man who had been at the shop that evening sitting on the ground outside with a gunshot wound to the chest; he died. A passer-by said Simms came out of the barbershop, turned off the lights, said he had nothing to do with it and drove away. A man who later shared a jail unit with Simms testified that Simms described a money dispute with a business partner, fetching a nine-millimetre from the back of the shop, shooting the man once and dragging him next door. Simms testified that the man was high, demanded money and raised a gun, and that the gun went off as they struggled over it.
You have the facts the court had. Guilty or not guilty? Call it in the game with your friends, then see what the court actually decided. Wrong call, you drink.
Citation: Simms v. State, No. 1647, Sept. Term 2024 (Md. App. Ct. Dec. 12, 2025) (unreported)
Read more at mdcourts.gov. The source reveals the outcome.