Gay artist Alex Ulrich was allegedly shot to death by Quinton Bass during a robbery (Photo courtesy of Baltimore Police Department)

The trial of a North Carolina man suspected in the Aug. 10, 2012 shooting of two well-known Mount Vernon residents, Joseph Alexander “Alex” Ulrich, Jr., 40, and Lawrence R. Peterson, 56, was postponed. It was originally scheduled for April 22 when jury selection was to take place. However, a spokesperson for the Baltimore City Circuit Court said that the trial had been postponed to June 27 at 9:30 a.m. at Courthouse East. No reason for the postponement was given. Ulrich was killed in the attack, and Peterson recovered following multiple surgeries.

Quinton Bass, who had come to Baltimore from Raleigh, N.C. in 2012 and lived in homeless shelters and vacant buildings, was arrested on gun charges three weeks after the double shooting.

Officials said that both Ulrich and Peterson were standing on the front steps of the historic Empire House on East Chase Street just before 4 a.m. on Aug. 10 when shots rang out. Both victims were taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital where Ulrich died several hours later.

Peterson is gay as was Ulrich. Police concluded robbery was the motive and did not identify it as a hate crime.