Acquitted: 25-Year-Old Acquitted for 2019 Murder 

By Alyssia Davis [former] - September 29, 2021
Court | Daily Stories | Featured | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

Editor’s note: The defendant was acquitted of charges in this case.

Terrell Parker was acquitted of all charges on Sept. 28 in the death of 28-year-old Ray Parker after a day of jury deliberation. 

During closing arguments on Sept. 27, the prosecutor’s said Parker established an intent to kill due to the five gunshot wounds the victim sustained. 

The prosecutor proceeded to play a 2019 recording of Ray’s ex-girlfriend’s testimony from a previous court proceeding. In the video, the ex-girlfriend testified that she went to school with the defendant’s girlfriend and on the night of the incident, she met her and Terrell.  

During her video testimony, Ray’s ex-girlfriend said she ran and hid when Parker pulled out a gun. She also said she heard gunfire and saw the victim fall to the ground. 

During defense attorney Donald Wright’s closing argument, he argued that the police poorly conducted their investigation. He also said the police were influencing witnesses and waited an entire month after the incident occurred to question the eyewitness. 

In addition, Wright mentioned to the jury that there was no DNA linking Parker to the crime nor was a murder weapon found. Wright also noted that there was no gunpowder from the bullets on the victim, which demonstrated that the gun had to be more than two feet away when the shooting occurred. 

During the prosecutor’s rebuttal, body camera footage of the detective on the scene showed Parker wearing the same clothes as he was the night of the incident. The prosecutor also stated that Parker placed himself at the scene of the crime during the time of the murder. 

During opening statements on Sept. 24, the prosecutor alleged Parker took the victim’s life  on Feb. 22, 2019. The prosecutor said that prior to the incident, the defendant, his girlfriend, and her friend met at Terrell’s residence, where both he and his girlfriend lived. The defendant’s girlfriend’s friend was introduced to the defendant, and the trio’s plan was to go out for alcohol and food. 

 Wright even suggested that the real killer was the ex-girlfriend’s current boyfriend, whom, he said, she is trying to protect because she waited over a month after the shooting to tell the police. 

The first responding officer was the first to testify and recalled hearing several gunshots fired a block from the 1500 block of Cliftview Avenue. The officer said he saw a crowd of people running away from the scene and then saw two victims with gunshot wounds. The officer said there was a woman with a gunshot wound to her stomach and that he tried to resuscitate Ray, but the victim died from his injuries. 

A crime lab technician working for the Baltimore Police Department, who had collected evidence from the crime scene, told the jury about the evidence, including a black jacket, a revolver wrapped in black gloves, and suspected blood. The revolver contained four live rounds and one cartridge. 

As the prosecution began to play the detective’s body camera footage, Parker was heard saying he “didn’t do this” and “it doesn’t add up.” The footage was taken when he went to the defendant’s home, located on the 1600 block of Cliftview Avenue, with a search and seizure warrant.

The detective said he didn’t interview the female victim.

None of the other potential witnesses besides the ex-girlfriend were interviewed. The ex-girlfriend was interviewed approximately three times throughout the investigation; she also completed a photo array during her initial interview. 

In addition, the detective said, when he initially interviewed Ray’s ex-girlfriend, she said she didn’t know the defendant but later testified that she met him through his girlfriend. 

The detective also told Wright that he did not recall a lot of information from the case seeing as he did not bring the case file to court.