Baltimore man gets life sentence for fatal Harbor East robbery shooting

A Baltimore judge sentenced Quontay Spinks to life in prison for a deadly Harbor East robbery that left 36-year-old Antonio Peoples dead and his girlfriend wounded in one of the city’s most visible dining corridors.

The April 27 sentence closed a case that began with a September 2024 attack on the 700 block of Aliceanna Street near The Ruxton restaurant. Prosecutors said Spinks pleaded guilty on February 12 to first-degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence, first-degree assault, attempted robbery with a deadly weapon and first-degree attempted murder. The Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office said Spinks fatally shot Peoples and also shot Peoples’ girlfriend, who was grazed by a stray bullet.

Investigators said the violence erupted when a vehicle pulled up and suspects got out and pointed a gun at Peoples and his girlfriend as they tried to steal the couple’s necklaces. Court records described a chaotic scene outside the restaurant, with Peoples resisting the robbery, disarming one of the attackers and firing at the assailants from the ground before he was shot multiple times. Evidence recovered at the scene included shell casings, projectiles, blood evidence and clothing left behind during the attack.

Spinks was arrested in Washington, D.C., in November 2024. At the time, CBS Baltimore reported that he was 19 years old and was held without bail after being charged in the Harbor East shooting. Police later said he admitted to the robbery and shooting.

The plea also covered a wider stretch of violence between September 12 and October 4, 2024. According to court and prosecutor accounts, Spinks acknowledged involvement in attempted murder, two armed carjackings and four armed robberies, tying the Harbor East killing to a string of armed crimes over several weeks.

State’s Attorney Ivan Bates said the maximum sentence allowed under the plea agreement was appropriate because Spinks terrorized residents and visitors and took a life in the process. The case has carried added weight in Harbor East, where restaurants, hotels and retail businesses depend on a steady flow of workers, shoppers and tourists in a district built around foot traffic and public visibility. For those businesses and the people who visit them, the shooting turned a polished waterfront block into the scene of a street robbery that ended in death.