A man accused of shooting a Baltimore County Police officer. A former Catholic priest charged with sexually abusing a former altar server and student in the 1990s. A couple faced with prosecution in the death of their 5-year-old daughter.

The Banner will continue to report on these court cases and others in Baltimore and the surrounding counties.

Here are a few cases that we’ll be watching in 2026:

Andrew Britt

He walked into the Wilkens Precinct of the Baltimore County Police Department on March 13, 2025, during a shift change.

Andrew Britt struck up a conversation with a police officer who was behind a desk.

Here’s what law enforcement reported happened next:

Several minutes later, Britt walked out into the parking lot. He approached a different officer who was filling up a patrol vehicle.

At one point, Britt walked up to that officer, pulled a gun from his waistband and fired.

Britt then shot Officer Jordan Riddick and collapsed from gunshot wounds. Medics took them to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center, and they both survived.

Britt, 27, of Windsor Hills, is set to stand trial on Feb. 2 in Baltimore County Circuit Court on three counts of attempted first-degree murder and related offenses. He has pleaded not criminally responsible.

Tony Garcia, Britt’s attorney, has said his client experienced a mental health breakdown and tried to die by suicide.

The Rev. William Mannion

The case has divided the local Catholic community.

Did the Rev. William Mannion, aka “Father Bill,” sexually abuse a former altar server and student in the 1990s at St. Agnes Catholic School in Catonsville?

Or are prosecutors going after an advocate for survivors who helped take down John Merzbacher, a notorious former teacher at the Catholic Community School of Baltimore and child rapist?

The Maryland Office of the Attorney General looked into the accusations against Mannion but declined to name him in a 456-page report that outlined how 156 priests and others within the Archdiocese of Baltimore committed “horrific and repeated abuse” as church leadership looked the other way.

The Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office is now prosecuting him.

In 1998, Mannion left the priesthood. The Vatican in 2004 laicized him.

Charles Waechter, Mannion’s attorney, has said his client is “unequivocally innocent.”

Mannion, 63, of Sparrows Point, is scheduled to stand trial on Feb. 10 in Baltimore County Circuit Court on charges of child abuse and second-degree sex offense.

Gerald Byrd Sr. and Bernice Byrd

When Baltimore Police found 5-year-old Zona Byrd in her bed on Oct. 14, 2024, she weighed just 17 ^1/2 pounds. Officers described her as being extremely malnourished and emaciated.

Police arrested the girl’s parents, Gerald Byrd Sr. and Bernice Byrd, in her death.

Maryland reported 46 deaths from child abuse or neglect in the 2024 federal fiscal year. That’s up from 23 in 2014.

Phillip Corey Levin, Bernice Byrd’s attorney, had noted that his client intended to plead not guilty in the case. The Maryland Office of the Public Defender represents Gerald Byrd and previously declined to comment.

Gerald Byrd, 35, and Bernice Byrd, 33, both of East Baltimore Midway, are set to face trial together on March 2 in Baltimore Circuit Court on charges of first- and second-degree murder and related offenses.

Mark Jones Jr.

The call came in after 6:30 a.m. on Christmas Eve in 2024.

Baltimore County Police responded to the Ross Ridge Apartment Homes in Rosedale and found four people suffering from gunshot wounds.

Detectives allege that Mark Jones Jr. opened fire, shooting his two children and their mother, Promyss Marcelle.

Jones’ son, Jacobi Marcelle, died from his injuries. He was 4.

Family members, friends and teachers recalled his bright smile, laughter and curiosity along with his love of dinosaurs at an open-casket funeral in Randallstown.

TurnAround Inc., the rape crisis center for Baltimore and Baltimore County, later named a new office in Dundalk in his memory.

Jones, 31, of Rosedale, is set to stand trial on June 22 in Baltimore County Circuit Court on charges of first-degree murder, child abuse resulting in death, use of a handgun during the commission of a crime of violence and related offenses.

Baltimore County Public Schools employees

At least five people who worked for Baltimore County Public Schools are set to stand trial in Baltimore County Circuit Court:

• Sean Brooks, 40, of Bel Air, a gym teacher at Perry Hall High School in Nottingham, on Feb. 9 on 15 counts of sexual abuse of a minor and related offenses.
• Jordan Adams, 29, of Windsor Mill, a gym teacher at Northwest Academy in Milford Mill, on Feb. 17 on four counts of sexual abuse of a minor and related offenses.
• Roger Myers, 61, of Towson, a gym teacher at Deep Creek Middle School in Essex, on Feb. 24 on five counts of sexual abuse of a minor and related offenses.
• Sydnie Haywood, 33, of Pikesville, a Spanish teacher at Woodlawn Middle School, on March 2 on three counts of sexual abuse of a minor and related offenses.
• Donovan Michaud, 30, of Dundalk, a building service worker at Overlea High School, on March 16 on one count of sexual abuse of a minor and related offenses.

Other cases

• Ronald Neverdon, 79, of Ashburton, a former staff member at the Charles H. Hickey Jr. School, is scheduled to stand trial on Jan. 20 in Baltimore County Circuit Court on charges that he sexually abused six boys between 1976 and 1989.
• Daaon Spears, 19, of Edmondson Village, and Bryan Johnson, 19, of Shipley Hill, are set to go to trial on Feb. 10 in Baltimore Circuit Court on charges including first-degree murder in a mass shooting that killed Deanta Dorsey, 16, and wounded four other students at Edmondson-Westside High School on Jan. 4, 2023.
• Eric Kibler, 44, of Hagerstown, is scheduled to face trial on March 12 in Baltimore Circuit Court on charges including first-degree murder and related offenses in a mass shooting that killed Anthony Martin, 36, and injured seven others near a motorcycle club and playground in East Baltimore on Aug. 18, 2024.
• Donald Lester, 69, of Randallstown, is set to stand trial on June 1 in Baltimore County Circuit Court on a charge of first-degree murder in the killing of his estranged wife, Linda Lester, who was last seen on Oct. 11, 1994. She was 31.
• The trial to decide whether Grace Ocean Private LTD can limit its liability in the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge is expected to kick off on June 1 in U.S. District Court in Baltimore.

If you or someone you know needs help, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in the United States is reachable by calling or texting 988. An online chat can be found at 988lifeline.org.