Man gets life without parole in ‘axe murder’ and Baltimore jail strangulation death

Associated Press

BALTIMORE (AP) — A man has been sentenced to life without parole for fatally strangling his deaf cellmate while he was in Baltimore’s jail awaiting a murder trial. Thirty-five-year-old Gordon Staron was sentenced Thursday after he pleaded guilty to strangling Javarick Gantt. A jury had already convicted him in the earlier case, which prosecutors called a seemingly random axe murder. Gantt was a deaf man facing relatively minor charges who relied on sign language to communicate. The case raised concerns about the city’s detention center and its backlogged court system. Staron’s attorney said at the sentencing hearing that Staron had an extensive history of mental health issues and substance abuse.