This summer, the United States Marshals added Michael Baltimore to the nation’s most-wanted list.
Who is Michael Baltimore?
90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After? viewers saw him — and his alleged murder victim — during a pivotal moment during Ashley Martson and Jay Smith’s agonizing story.
Now, authorities have arrested Baltimore.
On Friday, January 13, Michael Baltimore’s freedom came to an end.
His arrest went down in Davie, Florida.
Just six months earlier, in July of last year, his name appeared on the US Marshal Service’s list of 15 Most Wanted fugitives.
You might be wondering if Baltimore’s arrest was the result of a masterful investigation. Some sort of think tank of profilers and investigators, determined to get one step ahead of a criminal mastermind.
But while that makes for a compelling TV storyline, in real life, neither side tends to be that bright, careful, or motivated.
On Thursday night, Michael Baltimore became involved in a bar fight. Imagine evading arrest for over a year after an alleged murder, only to get yourself caught by being a violent dumbass in public. Amazing.
On Thursday night, witnesses reported that a man who had already armed himself with a knife threatened to retrieve a gun from his car.
Considering Michael Baltimore’s alleged criminal history, including the fatal shooting of Kendell Cook, that sounds very serious. It would sound serious from anyone, however.
According to the Davie Police Department, the man in question then fled in a car. An unidentified woman was the driver.
The next morning, police located the vehicle and found Baltimore.
A simple check of his fingerprints revealed his “Most Wanted” status. Apparently, he had tried to provide a fake name.
Authorities found a loaded handgun in his possession, along with drugs and three fake ID cards.
At the moment, Baltimore is still in Florida. He will face local charges first. But that will not be the end of it for him.
In May of 2021, he allegedly shot Kendell Cook to death and injured an employee, Anthony White, at Cook’s GQ Barbershop.
90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After? Season 4 viewers saw the victim, the suspect, and the barbershop back in 2019.
It was Kendell who told Ashley Martson that her then-husband, Jay Smith, had certainly cheated on her.
(He cheated on her so many times that we genuinely lost count of their breakups … and those were just the ones that we know about)
Kendell explained that Jay had boned a random girl in the bathroom of the barbershop. Kendell also shared that he had, ahem, somewhat violently made his point to Jay that this was disrespectful in his place of business.
Baltimore also appeared during those scenes, even if Kendell took the lead.
Numerous 90 Day Fiance fans have followed the case. It is strange to see such a brutal crime hit so close to home for reality TV personalities, but it does happen.
Baltimore himself vanished after Cook’s shooting. The Marshals Service offered $25,000 for information leading to his request. ATF put out a $10,000 reward. And Crime Stoppers offered $2,000.
We have no idea what Michael Baltimore’s trials (plural) will look like, or if he will try for a plea.
That said, we should note that the Marshals Service was clearly not mistaken when they identified him as a dangerous man.
Most accused murderers who are fugitives would avoid confrontation at any cost. For someone’s violent tendencies to get them arrested all by themselves … well, that indicates major behavioral problems.