In the summer of 2020, a 19-year-old man named Andrew Frazier was fatally shot in Baltimore. On the evening of August 22nd, Frazier was on the 900 block of Tunbridge Road when he was shot. After being wounded, he ran to the 5400 block of Lothian Road, where he ultimately collapsed. Responding police officers found him there and he was transported to a local hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries that same night.
The investigation into the shooting was carried out by Baltimore Police Department homicide detectives in conjunction with agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Their collaborative efforts led them to identify a suspect in the case. In October 2021, over a year after the incident, an arrest was made. Datwain Jackson, also 19 years old at the time of his arrest, was taken into custody and charged with the murder of Andrew Frazier.
Further investigation revealed a tragic irony in the circumstances of Frazier's death. It was determined that he was not the intended target of the shooting. In fact, he was a close friend of the alleged shooter, Datwain Jackson. The fatal shot was a case of 'friendly fire.' In the days leading up to the incident, Jackson and others had been involved in discussions via text messages, Instagram direct messages, and prison phone calls about confronting another individual. It was during this planned confrontation that Andrew Frazier was unintentionally killed.
In May 2024, Datwain Jackson, then 23, accepted a plea deal. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and firearm use in a felony violent crime. As a result of his plea, he was sentenced to life in prison with all but 20 years suspended for the conspiracy charge, and a concurrent 20-year sentence, with the first five years to be served without the possibility of parole, for the firearm charge. The judge also recommended his enrollment in the Patuxent Youth Offenders program.
