Annapolis, MD – On Wednesday, November 4, 2026, in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court, Ramon Antonio Rivas-Portillo, age 37, of Annapolis, was found guilty of Attempted Second Degree Murder, first-degree assault, reckless endangerment, and carrying a dangerous weapon openly with intent to injure. The jury rendered their guilty verdict following several hours of deliberations on Wednesday. Rivas-Portillo was charged in the June 2026 attack of another man while using a sledgehammer. The Honorable Judge Richard Trunnell scheduled sentencing for January 8, 2027.
Following the verdict, State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess commented, “The victim suffered two lacerations resulting in scars to his face and continues to have headaches and memory loss. He is fortunate to be alive, given the potential trauma a sledgehammer can inflict.”
Leitess added, “there is no way this defendant can take back the irreparable, life-changing harm his senseless act of violence caused.”
On June 18, 2026 at approximately 2:32 p.m., Anne Arundel County Police officers were dispatched to the 3200 block of Arundel on the Bay Road in Annapolis for a reported assault. Arriving officers found the 26-year-old adult male victim bleeding profusely from the head. Multiple bystanders were attempting to render aid and hold pressure on the victim’s wounds. Fire department personnel arrived on scene to provide medical care and the victim was flown to R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore with serious injuries. Witnesses provided police the license plate number for a blue Ford Fusion driven by the suspect.
Prior to the attack, investigators determined that the defendant, victim, and another man were at a nearby park drinking alcohol. The three men left the park in a Ford Fusion, with the defendant in the front passenger seat, the victim in the back seat behind the defendant, and the third man driving. As the men were travelling on Arundel on the Bay Road, the defendant grabbed a sledgehammer and struck the victim in the face with it. The third man was able to stop the vehicle and pull the victim out. The defendant fled the scene driving the car. The third man told police that Rivas-Portillo struck the victim approximately 20 times with the hammer.
The Ford Fusion was found unoccupied by police with bloody clothes inside. Annapolis Police officers searched the Lincoln Center grounds and located the defendant, who had changed his clothing, as he attempted to leave the area in a car.
The State was represented by State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess at trial on behalf of the citizens of Anne Arundel County. The investigation was led by the Anne Arundel County Police Department with assistance from Annapolis Police.