Cassandra McRae was convicted in the 2025 attack that killed educator Anntoinette Jennings and wounded two other people.
BALTIMORE, Md. — A Baltimore woman has been ordered to serve 140 years in prison for her role in a deadly shooting that followed a dispute at a children’s basketball game and left a grandmother dead and two other people wounded.
Cassandra McRae, 38, received a 150-year sentence with all but 140 years suspended, according to the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office. The first 25 years must be served without the possibility of parole. The sentence also calls for three years of supervised probation if McRae is eventually released.
McRae was convicted of second-degree murder, four counts of conspiracy to commit murder, four counts of attempted second-degree murder, five counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony or crime of violence, and reckless endangerment. Assistant State’s Attorney Megan Gallo prosecuted the case.
The charges stemmed from a Jan. 22, 2025, shooting in the 5400 block of York Road. Baltimore police found multiple people who had been shot inside a Honda CR-V. Anntoinette Jennings, 52, was pronounced dead at the scene. Two other occupants were wounded, including an 11-year-old child. Two additional people in the vehicle, including a 6-year-old child, were not injured.
Jennings was a grandmother and a pre-K teacher’s aide at Waverly Elementary/Middle School. Her family said she had attended a basketball game involving one of her grandchildren before the shooting. The case drew community attention after relatives and anti-violence workers gathered near the shooting scene in the days after her death.
Prosecutors said surveillance footage showed an altercation at the basketball game involving members of Jennings’ family and McRae. Investigators said McRae was recorded leaving the game while making a phone call and then entering a gray sedan that followed the victims’ vehicle to York Road.
According to prosecutors, McRae got out of the sedan and walked toward the rear passenger side of the Honda as two men approached the driver’s side. Investigators said McRae touched the rear quarter panel and called attention to the vehicle. Seconds later, one of the men fired into the Honda, prosecutors said. McRae and the two men then fled.
Tavon Singleton was later identified by investigators as one of the two men and was charged along with McRae. Singleton was ultimately acquitted of all charges. The State’s Attorney’s Office said in its indictment account that another male suspect had not been apprehended, and Fox45 reported after McRae’s sentencing that the suspect remained at large.
The punishment followed sharply different sentencing requests from the two sides. Gallo sought the maximum available sentence of 295 years and argued that McRae had orchestrated the events that led to Jennings’ death. Defense attorney Michael Tomko sought a sentence of no more than 25 years, pointing to McRae’s lack of a prior criminal record and arguing that she should not bear the punishment for everyone involved.
McRae maintained her innocence in court. The Baltimore Banner reported that Circuit Judge Dana Middleton described her as the catalyst for the shooting even though she did not fire the shots. State’s Attorney Ivan J. Bates said the 140-year term reflected the consequences of conduct that killed Jennings and endangered other people, including children.
McRae now faces a sentence that effectively keeps her incarcerated for the rest of her life under its current terms. Publicly available reports reviewed after the sentencing did not establish whether she had filed an appeal. Singleton remains acquitted, while authorities have continued to describe another suspect in the case as unresolved.
Author note: Last updated October 15, 2026.