Man sentenced to life plus 65 years for deadly shooting over child visitation dispute

BALTIMORE (WBFF) — A man has been sentenced for the deadly shooting of a 26-year-old in a child visitation dispute in west Baltimore in 2025.

Timothy Shearn was found guilty for the murder of Deonaye Johnson and has been sentenced to life in prison plus an additional 65 years, officials reported.

Authorities reported that Shearn threatened the mother of his child with a firearm, then shot and killed the father of one of her other children.

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On September 9, 2025, a woman alerted police that the father of her child had pointed a gun at her.

Authorities followed her to the incident location on the 1000 block of N. Arlington Avenue, but no one was found there.

The woman then took the police to another location, but again, no one was present.

After losing track of the woman as she drove, officers attempted to call her and heard her yelling over the phone, urging someone to put the gun away.

As police worked to locate her, gunshots were heard, and a ShotSpotter device alerted them to the original location they responded to.

Officers discovered Johnson lying on the ground with a gunshot wound to the back of his head, officials reported.

The woman indicated that she believed Shearn had run back into one of the two houses located on N. Arlington Avenue.

After several hours of searching, police cleared both homes but found no sign of Shearn.

The woman explained that when the initial threat occurred, she called Johnson, who is the father of her child, and he arrived to help defuse the situation.

She stated that she saw the defendant with a firearm before Johnson was shot.

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Authorities also spoke with a witness at the scene, who reported seeing Shearn outside before he fled after the victim was shot.

A search of the residence showed Timothy Shearn’s name along with an empty Smith & Wesson gun box.

Six 9mm cartridge cases were also recovered near the scene of the shooting, and all were determined to have been fired from the same unknown firearm. Officials reported that three bullet fragments recovered during Johnson’s autopsy matched the same unidentified weapon.

“Ultimately, if you choose to settle a personal dispute with a gun in our city, you will be held to account. Mr. Shearn made the deliberate decision to take Deonaye Johnson’s life, leaving a family to grieve a loss that can never be undone,” said State’s Attorney Ivan Bates in a press release.

Shearn was found guilty of first-degree murder, two counts of using a handgun in the commission of a violent crime, first-degree assault, and wearing, carrying, or transporting a handgun.

Shearn will now spend the rest of his life in prison for the fatal shooting.