Carroll Edward Wonson, a 56-year-old Black man, was fatally shot on August 16, 2024, during what had begun as an ordinary trip through a Baltimore neighborhood with his two minor grandchildren. At about 6:22 p.m., Baltimore Police were called to the 600 block of Springfield Avenue for a reported shooting. Officers found Wonson lying on his side near 602 Springfield Avenue with multiple gunshot wounds to his head and torso, and emergency medical personnel pronounced him dead at the scene at
approximately 6:30 p.m. Investigators determined that Wonson and his grandchildren had been walking to a nearby convenience store. Surveillance footage showed them entering the store, and after they came back outside, a shooter approached or encountered them and opened fire on Wonson repeatedly. Later court reporting described the footage as showing the shooter turning the weapon toward the grandchildren after Wonson was shot, forcing the children to flee as their grandfather lay mortally wounded.
The scene and nearby surveillance cameras quickly became central to the investigation. Police recovered shell casings around Wonson and in the roadway and canvassed the surrounding area for witnesses and camera footage. Investigators said the video evidence led them to identify Bryant James Peyton as the shooter. The case developed further when Peyton's father reportedly discovered a handgun near a fence outside his residence two days after the killing. A neighbor also told investigators that Peyton had been seen near the fence gate around the time investigators were reconstructing his movements. Firearms examiners later processed the recovered handgun and determined that it likely matched the firearm used to kill Wonson. Authorities also said Peyton was legally prohibited from possessing a firearm because of a 2024 conviction for second-degree assault.
The publicly available reporting does not give a clear date or detailed circumstances for Peyton's arrest, but he was in Baltimore City Circuit Court as a homicide defendant by January 24, 2025. At that stage, he faced first-degree murder, use of a firearm in a felony or crime of violence, possession of a firearm after a disqualifying conviction, and a handgun-possession charge. On March 18, 2025, the Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office publicly announced his indictment for first-degree murder, use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence, illegal possession of a regulated firearm, and wearing, carrying or transporting a handgun. Prosecutors said a conviction on all counts could expose Peyton to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole plus an additional 35 years. The case-specific accounts identify Peyton as the shooter and do not identify another alleged participant in Wonson's killing.
As the prosecution moved toward trial, Peyton chose to contest the case rather than resolve it through a negotiated plea. At a January 2025 hearing, he waived the normal Hicks trial deadline despite the judge advising him about the consequences of allowing the case to proceed beyond the statutory scheduling period. On February 14, prosecutors offered a plea agreement calling for 25 years of incarceration, with the first five years to be served without parole, but Peyton rejected the offer. A five-day jury trial was initially expected to begin on June 2, 2025. When that date arrived, however, the trial did not go forward. Peyton instead appeared before the court and the matter was postponed, with further pretrial proceedings scheduled for June 27. The most recent case-specific online reporting located for this synopsis leaves the prosecution at that stage; it does not report a completed trial, guilty verdict, acquittal, conviction, or sentencing in Wonson's death.
