Defense attorney Roya M. Hanna announced her bid for Baltimore City state’s attorney this week, taking on the controversial incumbent candidate, Marilyn Mosby (D).
“For our city to thrive, we must reduce the homicide rate, restructure the juvenile system to provide more support to our kids in crisis, deter gun violence, work with the business community, and create an independent body to investigate and prosecute police misconduct,” Hanna, a Democrat, said in a statement.
Hanna served as an assistant state’s attorney for 12 years, working under Mosby in 2015 for the first three months of her administration. Hanna has been an critic of Mosby since leaving the office.
Mosby and her husband, Baltimore City Council President Nick J. Mosby (D), have been the target of a federal investigation related to their business, travel and tax deductions, as reported by Baltimore Brew.
A gun violence prevention advocate, Hanna said Mosby, who is rounding out her second term as Baltimore’s top prosecutor, is “failing” to keep the city safe.
“Baltimore has broken the record of homicides per capita three times during her administration — enough is enough,” Hanna said in a statement.
According to The Baltimore Sun Homicide database, the city has seen 232 murders in 2021 — 85% of those were shootings.
According to her campaign website, during Hanna’s last four years as an assistant state’s attorney, she tried murder cases “almost exclusively” and “never lost a homicide case.”
“We can do and must do a better job of keeping our communities safe,” Hanna said.
The Democratic primary will be held on June 28, 2022.
Hannah Gaskill
Reporter
Hannah Gaskill was a reporter for Maryland Matters. She left the publication in May 2022. Gaskill received her master’s of journalism degree in December 2019 from the University of Maryland. She previously worked on the print layout design team at The Diamondback, reported on criminal justice in Maryland for Capital News Service and served as a production assistant for The Confluence — the daily news magazine on 90.5 WESA, Pittsburgh’s NPR member station. Gaskill has had bylines in The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Post and The Chicago Tribune, among other publications. Before pursuing journalism, she received her bachelor’s of fine art degree from Carnegie Mellon University in 2016. She grew up in Ocean City.
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