A man pleads guilty to killing a deaf cellmate in a Baltimore prison

A man pleaded guilty Tuesday to killing his cellmate at Baltimore’s Central Booking and Admissions Center in a case that has raised questions about how the corrections department accommodates inmates with disabilities.

Gordon Staron, 35, of Abingdon in Harford County, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Baltimore to first-degree murder in the death of Javarick Gantt, who was deaf and communicated through sign language.

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

The Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the cause of death to be asphyxiation. The form of death was murder.

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 that “he is willing to go to court to get this job done.”

“It’s very important for them to realize that fighting on their behalf doesn’t always mean it’s always on the sidelines,” said Bates, a former longtime Baltimore defense attorney who last argued a case in 2002. “Sometimes you have to go to the courtroom to make sure people are held accountable.”

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

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

At the time, Staron was being held on murder charges. Gantt was arrested for violating probation.

The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services manages the city’s prison system. Gantt, disability advocates said, should not have been placed in a closed facility with an inmate who was considered high risk.

Last week, Staron was found guilty of first-degree murder and related offenses in connection with the murder of Keith Bell, which occurred on September 6, 2022, at a bus stop at East Monument and North Caroline streets in East Baltimore. He was 63 years old.

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

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

After pleading guilty, Staron stood up, held out his hands for corrections officers to cuff and handcuff him, and followed them out of the courtroom. District Judge Althea M. Handy set sentencing for December 19.