Three Plead Guilty in Bizarre Hotel Assault
WOODLAWN—Three men pleaded guilty Monday in a bizarre Baltimore County ransom scheme involving a hostage who was allegedly bound, assaulted and forced to eat urine-soaked dog food.
A group of people held DeAnthony Phillips hostage at a Red Roof Inn in July, 2024, because they believed he stole marijuana, according to charging documents and grand jury indictments.
They sent degrading photos to his family and friends, demanding money and subjected him to humiliating and violent assaults before police were able to locate him.
The group, who included men with nicknames “Bug, “Murda” “Money” and “Mims,” allegedly sent images of Phillips
being held at gunpoint — bound and naked — to his family members in Texas demanding they send money via CashAp.
Phillips’ grandmother and a friend both alerted police, who then examined the photos and determined they were taken at the Red Roof Inn in Woodlawn.
In court Monday, Davon “Bug” Jeter, 26, Tristan “Mims” Wright, 20, and Tyion “Murda” Taylor, 18, each agreed to plead guilty to one count of first-degree assault and one count of a weapons charge. Sentencing is set for January.
The prosecution is recommending sentences of 25 years with all but eight years suspended, Assistant State’s Attorney Stacy Amparo said. Of those eight years, five must be served without parole.
Taylor was 17 at the time of the incident but was waived up to adult court.
Alysa Ann Mullhausen, 20, of Baltimore, pleaded guilty last May to second-degree assault and theft. She received a suspended sentence with two years’ probation, according to online records.
Prosecuting attorney Amparo told Judge Garret Glennon Monday the victim has since died in an unrelated incident. News outlets reported Phillips, 27, was struck and killed October 23, 2024, by a semi truck in Wilmer, Texas as he walked along the shoulder of a road. Acquaintances said Philips was walking because he had run out of gas.
Prosecutors Monday agreed to drop all remaining charges against Wright, Taylor and Jeter, including charges of kidnapping, extortion and “willfully causing another to ingest bodily fluids.”
MISSING MARIJUANA
The harrowing episode started when a group of people were staying at the Red Roof Inn at 1660 Whitehead Court July 26, 2024.
Phillips’ girlfriend had purchased a bag of marijuana earlier in the day and divvied it up before everyone in the hotel room fell asleep. A bag of pot was missing when they woke up, the victim told police.
The group accused Phillips of taking the weed. They searched for the bag and questioned him for some time. Then things got violent.
Police reported the following:
“The victim was sent to the store to purchase tobacco. When he arrived back at the location, a suspect named
‘Money’ was at the location. The suspects questioned the victim about the missing marijuana again. ‘Money' then locked the victim inside the hotel room.”
The men spit on him, hit and kicked him repeatedly and used a rifle, a handgun, and belts during the assault, prosecutors said.
The attackers also stripped off his clothes, and took humiliating photos and videos to send as part of their ransom demands.
Family members paid the kidnappers a total of $1551 via CashAp and the attack continued —this time in a more twisted way.
Phillips was moved to another hotel room where, in addition to two women, there was also a large dog, Amparo said in court Monday.
The attackers tried to bait the dog into biting Phillips by smearing him with dog food. The dog did not bite.
“ ‘Murda’ Tyion Taylor then urinated on the victim and forced him to eat the dog food and the urine,” Amparo said. Taylor also forced Phillips to clean the mess up, she said.
After being tipped by people who had received ransom demands, officers rushed to the hotel. A group of people scattered on seeing police.
Officers soon found the victim, bruised and beaten, in a hotel room.
The suspects were identified from hotel surveillance, images on Mullhausen’s cell phone, and the victim’s statements, Amparo said.