Donita Watts can no longer enjoy fireworks on the Fourth of July. The sound of balloons popping also startles her, she said, and the thump of books hitting the floor puts her on edge.
On Nov. 4, 2017, Watts and her boyfriend, Metropolitan Police Sgt. Tony Mason Jr., were sitting in his car on Elgin Avenue in Walbrook, talking, drinking and listening to music. He was off duty at the time.
That’s when another vehicle pulled up alongside them, and two gunmen opened fire, wounding the couple. Mason, 40, later died of multiple gunshot wounds.
On Wednesday, Baltimore Circuit Judge Cynthia Jones sentenced the architect of the killing, Dion Thompson, 27, of Gwynn Oak, to serve life plus 33 years in prison for first-degree murder and related crimes.
“This is going to always haunt me,” Watts said through tears in the Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. Courthouse. “I’m not me no more.”
The case had remained cold for years until a tipster in 2023 contacted Metro Crime Stoppers with information.
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Assistant State’s Attorney Kurt Bjorklund, chief of the Cold Case Unit, said during sentencing that Thompson felt paranoid because he was committing other crimes in the neighborhood and decided to shoot up the car.
Bjorklund pushed for the maximum penalty in what he described as a senseless killing: two consecutive life sentences plus 33 years in prison.
“He had no clue who they were; he had a feeling. He had an inkling,” Bjorklund said. “Judge, that is the epitome of nihilism: that life is meaningless.”
One of the other suspects in the murder died in 2018 in a crash. Another remains under investigation, according to trial testimony.
Mason’s family members described him as a protector who mentored young people. The father of four was posthumously promoted to lieutenant.
“The defendant’s actions have profoundly impacted our family,” said his uncle, John Mason. “My hope is that justice will be served.”
Despite his conviction last week at trial, Thompson maintains his innocence.
His attorney, Staci Pipkin, asked the judge not to punish him for exercising his constitutional right to go to trial. He was offered a plea agreement at one point that called for a sentence of 50 years in prison, the lawyer said.
Thompson expressed his condolences to the Mason family.
Prosecutors, he said, stereotyped him and never proved that he harmed anyone. But Thompson acknowledged that the jury disagreed.
“No, this is not me admitting guilt,” he said, “but I do feel bad for what happened.”
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