CARLISLE, Pa. — Editor's note: The video is from May 24, 2021.
Prosecutors in Cumberland County said this week that they will seek the death penalty for the suspect charged in a deadly 2021 shooting in a Carlisle barbershop.
Michael A. Baltimore Jr., 44, of Camp Hill, is charged with first-degree murder and other offenses relating to the May 22, 2021, shooting at GQ Barbershop on the 100 block of Hanover Street.
The owner of the business, Kendall Cook, was pronounced dead at the scene, while another victim, Anthony White, was critically injured.
Baltimore was employed at the business until 2019, investigators said at the time of the shooting. He was apprehended in Florida in January after spending six months on the U.S. Marshals Service's Most Wanted List, which he was added to in June 2022.
Baltimore was featured in several episodes of the television reality series "90 Day Fiancé," according to U.S. Marshals. He has an extensive criminal history and is known to be violent, authorities said.
Baltimore was arrested during a fight in Davie, Florida on Jan. 13. According to U.S. Marshals, Baltimore had fought with an employee and had a knife. He also allegedly threatened to retrieve a firearm from his car before fleeing the scene.
Officers reportedly learned that Baltimore had fled the scene in a silver Sedan traveling northbound. Police were able to conduct a traffic stop, and place Baltimore in custody.
A search of the car produced 2.3 grams of Fentanyl in his pockets as well as a loaded handgun, over 200 grams of marijuana and 818 ecstasy pills.
Following his extradition to Pennsylvania, Baltimore has been held at Cumberland County Prison, where he was awaiting trial.
At his formal arraignment on Tuesday, he entered a plea of not guilty to the charges stemming from the Carlisle shooting.
Prosecutors filed a notice of aggravating circumstances in the case on Oct. 20, according to court records.
According to a Pennlive report, Senior Assistant District Attorney Nichole Vito confirmed that her office will seek the death penalty upon a first-degree murder conviction. The reasoning is as follows:
- Baltimore knowingly created a “grave risk” to other people in the commission of the offense. That’s likely a reference to the fact that the shooting occurred in an open business, with several other people besides Cook present.
- Baltimore has a significant history of other felony convictions involving the use or threat of violence. Baltimore is currently awaiting a January 2024 trial on a separate aggravated assault case out of Upper Allen Township in which he punched a woman in the face several times, threw her to the ground and choked her before fleeing as police arrived.