Man admits to killing deaf cellmate in Baltimore jail

A man admitted Tuesday to killing his cellmate at Baltimore’s Central Booking and Intake Center in a case that raised questions about how the state Corrections Department houses prisoners with disabilities.

Gordon Staron, 35, of Abingdon in Harford County, pleaded guilty in Baltimore Circuit Court to first-degree murder in the death of Javarick Gantt, who was deaf and used sign language to communicate.

Gantt was found unresponsive in his cell on October 9, 2022, and less than 30 minutes later, a Baltimore City Fire Department paramedic pronounced him dead. He was 34 years old.

The Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled that his cause of death was strangulation. The manner of death was homicide.

Baltimore State’s Attorney Ivan Bates prosecuted the case with Assistant State’s Attorney Tonya LaPolla.

Outside the Elijah E. Cummings Courthouse, Bates said he wanted people in the community to know he was “ready to go to court to get the job done.”

“It’s very important that they recognize that fighting for them doesn’t always mean you’re doing it on the sidelines,” said Bates, a former longtime Baltimore defense attorney who last prosecuted in 2002. “Sometimes you need to go into the courtroom to make sure you’re holding people accountable.

Gantt’s father, Rick Barry Sr., told reporters his family was more than happy.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Barry said, turning to Bates and LaPolla. “That’s all I’d like to say for now.”

At the time, Staron was being held in a murder case. Gantt was arrested for probation violation.

The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Corrections operates the city’s prison system. Gantt, disability advocates said, should not have been housed with a prisoner considered high risk.

Staron was convicted last week of first-degree murder and related crimes in the killing of Keith Bell, which occurred at a bus stop at East Monument and North Caroline streets in East Baltimore on September 6, 2022. He was 63 years.

The Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office will seek life in prison without the possibility of parole for Bell’s death. Prosecutors will seek a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole concurrent with Gantt’s murder.

Outside the courtroom, Jason Silverstein, Staron’s attorney, declined to comment.

After pleading guilty, Staron stood up, held out his arms for corrections officers to handcuff and shackle him, then walked out of the courtroom with them. Circuit Judge Althea M. Handy scheduled sentencing for Dec. 19.