On the afternoon of December 18, 2024, gunfire erupted in the 2600 block of East Chase Street near Luzerne Avenue Park in Baltimore. Thirty-one-year-old Donte Bazemore, a Black father of six, was struck multiple times in the upper body. Paramedics took him to a nearby hospital, where medical staff pronounced him deceased. Police recovered two spent 9mm shell casings and one projectile at the scene. Investigators described the killing as a targeted act of violence; the motive remains unclear to the public.

The Baltimore Police Department Homicide Unit conducted an active investigation. In December 2025 authorities issued a warrant for 41-year-old Javon Rivers after reviewing camera footage and witness corroboration; as of early 2026 Rivers was still a fugitive, the U.S. Marshals Service was assisting the search, and an $8,000 reward had been offered for information leading to his capture. Donte Bazemore’s widow called him an awesome father and phenomenal husband.

If anyone has information that could help locate Rivers or shed light on what happened that day, please come forward.