Dylan Segelbaum

dsegelbaum@ydr.com

An ex-Baltimore police officer who had been found guilty of repeatedly shooting a man in what prosecutors described as an attempt to stop him from exposing a romantic relationship was sentenced on Tuesday to five to 10 years in prison.

John Torres, 35, of Hellam Township, who worked in the Baltimore Police Department for 12 years, did not make a statement and was ordered to immediately start serving his sentence for aggravated assault. He must also pay almost $22,000 in restitution.

“Certainly, this case has not been an easy one” for everyone involved, Common Pleas Judge Maria Musti Cook said before handing down the sentence. She remarked it was a “gross understatement” to say what happened could have been avoided.

West York Police renew efforts to solve 2013 homicide

On April 29, 2014, Torres was in uniform when he fired 14 shots at David Hohman — they used to work together at a grocery store — outside an apartment complex in York Township. The officer had been talking with Hohman's wife, Ashley.

Torres was acquitted of attempted first-degree murder. During the trial, he testified that he believed Hohman had a shotgun — and came up from Baltimore to kill him.

First Assistant Public Defender Clasina Houtman, who represented Torres, made an impassioned plea to the court, saying one decision that her client had to make in a few seconds does not define who he is as a person.

“Mr. Torres has been a man who’s been here, who’s been there for others,” Houtman said, rejecting the idea that he’s “trigger-happy” or “shoots without reason.”

Houtman also said her client had a decorated career as a police officer, and that he has two children, 10 and 15. She asked the judge to impose a sentence of 3 1/2 to seven years.

West York pays former chief more than $150,000

But Senior Deputy Prosecutor RJ Fisher pushed for a sentence of seven to 14 years, citing the “totality of the circumstances” in the case, as well as the number of shots that were fired. He also noted that Hohman is still “battling his injuries,” and has an additional surgery scheduled in January.

“Your honor,” Fisher said, “the defendant did make a conscious decision, one after the other, to open fire on an unarmed man.”

Outside the courtroom, Hohman, 36, of Baltimore, said in an interview that he felt “satisfied” with the outcome.

Hohman said he’d been hoping for a sentence of at least five years. That’s what the York County Department of Probation Services recommended in the case.

Said Hohman: “I think everything went pretty good.”



Contact Dylan Segelbaum at 771-2102.