21-year-old sentenced for role in murder, hostage plot in Baltimore vacant home over drug deal

A federal judge in Baltimore sentenced a 21-year-old man to 22 years in prison for his role in a 2022 murder inside a vacant home.

According to federal prosecutors, the motive for the killing was money and drugs. 

The murder plot

The plot unfolded in May 2022.

According to the plea agreement, Ziyon Thompson picked up the victim, Miguel Soto-Diaz, at a hotel near the Inner Harbor and drove him to a vacant home on Furrow Street in Southwest Baltimore's Carrollton Ridge neighborhood.

Authorities said Soto-Diaz was tied up before the home was set on fire.

Federal investigators said Soto-Diaz ran a marijuana operation in California and struck a deal with the suspect to provide drugs. 

Thompson then devised a plot to hold Soto-Diaz hostage, authorities said. The victim was gagged and strapped to a chair. 

Court records said he placed a call to the victim's son on FaceTime. 

According to the plea agreement, Thompson "showed Soto-Diaz tied to a chair with duct tape over his mouth and zip ties on his hands and ankles. The defendant demanded 200 pounds of marijuana and $50,000 for the safe return of Soto-Diaz."

A short time later, the victim was shot and the home was set ablaze. 

Investigators found a gas can and five spent shell casings. 

Other evidence included this text from Thompson: "Papi said send the bags and money so he can be ok and he said don't call the police or he want [sic] be coming home."

This week, a judge sentenced Thompson to 22 years and one month in federal prison for aiding and abetting the murder. Once he completes the sentence, he will face five years of supervised release. 

The homeowner fought squatters 

Darryl Brown owned the home at the time.

As part of an in-depth series of reports on vacant homes, he told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren earlier this year how he tried to renovate it, but squatters took over.

"I remember it was myself and the police officer standing in front of a young man that went in my home and demanded, told me and the police officer, that he was exercising squatters' rights. I was like I don't know what that means. The officer told me to back up and to go downtown. I went downtown and the judge denied me," Brown recalled.

Of Soto-Diaz's killing, he said, "It was a murder that psychologically messed me up."

He eventually got a court order to remove the squatters, but by the time it was enforced, the home was burned. 

Brown said he sold it at a loss.

Asked what he would tell the current owner, Brown said, "Get out of it. Right now, it's like a sinking ship because I don't see anything coming from the ashes."

Still vacant

More than three years later, 325 Furrow Street is still vacant and seemingly in worse shape, with a tree growing through the second story. 

Most of the homes on that block are not occupied. The home next door is unsecured and filled with trash. 

The city says there are currently 12,605 vacant homes in Baltimore City.

They have made progress on reducing the number of vacants, but a new permitting system has faced slowdowns that led council member Odette Ramos to call it "an abomination."    

The city has an ambitious plan to reduce that number to a "functional zero" within the next 15 years at a cost of $3 billion.