The man who ran with Freddie Gray pleads guilty to murder conspiracy in unrelated case


Catherine Rentz Contact Reporter The Baltimore Sun

Davonte Roary, who ran with Freddie Gray the day he was arrested, pleads guilty to murder conspiracy in unrelated case.



The man who ran with Freddie Gray last April pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to commit murder in an unrelated case.

Davonte Roary, 21, admitted to taking part in a shooting in an alley behind Gilmor Homes -- yards away from where his friend Gray was arrested on April 12.

Though the conspiracy conviction carries up to a life sentence, Roary's deal allows him to leave jail with 15 years suspended and five years of probation.

The Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office did not respond to questions surrounding the sentence or plea deal.

Roary's mother, Melissa Zeigler, said she did not want her son to take the deal and walked out of the courtroom as soon as he agreed.

Case records state that Roary initially admitted to a related drug deal, but said he knew nothing about the shooting.


New details emerge about morning Freddie Gray was arrested

Three months after Gray's death, Roary had agreed to sell $200 worth of heroin to a group driving from Maryland's Eastern Shore to Baltimore, according to court records. When the group pulled into the alley, the driver and Roary discussed the transaction and got into a disagreement, after which another male approached the car, pointed a gun at the driver and said "I want your money," records show.

The driver began to pull away when a witness said Roary ordered the other man to "shoot him" and the man shot the driver in the back, according to the records. The man survived, driving himself a few blocks away to call for medical help.

That evening, police tracked the phone used to arrange the drug deal to Roary's house in North Baltimore. The driver and another witness positively identified Roary as the dealer who met with the Eastern Shore group, records show. No one has identified the shooter.

Zeigler said her son is innocent and described the charges against him as "harassment" for his being with Gray on the morning he was arrested.

She said he was taking the plea deal to get out of jail, where he's been held since August.

When Roary ran with Gray the morning of April 12, city surveillance cameras show him sprinting into a Gilmor apartment building shortly before Gray was arrested. Roary toldThe Baltimore Sun that he had met Gray that morning to have breakfast and they had begun to jog to Gilmor when police began their pursuit of them.

Later that week, Western District officers came to arrest Roary at his home on unrelated assault and theft charges, which were later dropped.

Roary described Gray as a lifelong friend who "was always happy." Zeigler considered Gray as part of the family and said he was always a joker and loved to eat at their home.

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