BALTIMORE — One of the shooters responsible for killing a Digital Harbor High School student last year, and wounding another man has pleaded guilty.
Paul Ray was just 17-years-old on August 14, 2023.
That's when he carjacked a man at gunpoint on Bowley’s Lane.
Hours later Ray drove the stolen Nissan Maxima to A Plus Grocery and Deli on N. Broadway Street, where he and others riding with him opened fire on 16-year-old Bryson Hudson and a 26-year-old man standing in front of the store.
Hudson died.
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Detectives collected 23 spent shell casings from at least four different firearms at the crime scene.
When investigators eventually recovered the stolen Maxima, they found Ray's DNA on the steering wheel.
Yet police still had no weapon linking Ray to the shooting.
While listening to Ray's jail calls, he allegedly told an associate where the gun was, instructing him to pick it up and store it.
With that information investigators searched the home of Ray's associate, where they discovered the 9mm Glock handgun in question.
Crime lab technicians determined the gun shared sufficient characteristics with the shell casing recovered at the murder scene. Plus Ray's DNA was detected on the gun.
The evidence was enough for Ray to plead guilty to first degree murder and carjacking.
Ray's plea came in late, however, as his case was heading to trial with Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott seated as an alternate juror.
“At just 17 years old, this individual chose to steal a man’s car at gunpoint and then proceeded to drive it to a public business to shoot people, tragically resulting in the death of Mr. Hudson,” said Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan J. Bates. “These reprehensible actions demand swift and significant punishment."
Ray is scheduled to be sentenced January 29.
