Second Man Sentenced In Shooting Behind Laurel Motel

LAUREL, MD — The accomplice in the fatal shooting of Dalan Plummer behind the Knights Inn in Laurel has received a lighter sentence than the man who pulled the trigger. Brandon Holmes of Washington, D.C., pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and using a firearm during the commission of a felony violent crime in exchange for prosecutors opposing a life sentence.

At a sentencing hearing Sept. 11, Circuit Court Judge Alison Asti sentenced Holmes, 32, to life in prison, suspending all but 25 years behind bars and ordering that the mandatory five-year sentence on the firearm charge be served at the same time as the 25 years for murder. She tacked on five years supervised probation and mandated that Holmes undergo drug and mental health treatment when he’s released.

Asti also determined the fate of the man Holmes was with the night they planned to buy a few grams of weed from Plummer and his best friend Tamar Wallace in June 2016. An Anne Arundel County jury found 22-year-old Malachi Ellis guilty of first-degree murder and nine other counts approximately two months ago.

According to court documents, the men walked behind the hotel away from surveillance cameras and police patrols. That's where Ellis pulled out a gun and proceeded to hold up Plummer and Wallace. Ellis and Holmes dug through the men's pockets and stole their drugs, money and phones.

They ordered the men to remove their shoes and that's when Plummer lunged for the gun. He was shot below the chin and eventually lapsed into a coma, dying eight days later. Wallace called for help while Ellis and Holmes ran off.

According to the Capital Gazette, Karl Bland, who shared a disciplinary cell at the county jail with Ellis for weeks, testified during Ellis' May trial that the man wrote rap lyrics about the shooting and told Bland how he had shot Plummer.