29-Year-Old Woman Found Guilty of Second-Degree Murder After Running Husband Over in Marriott Parking Lot in 2021

By Andrew Michaels - August 26, 2023
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Suspects | Victims |

Jurors sat quietly in Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Dana M. Middleton’s courtroom on Aug. 24 as they watched security footage of a husband and wife arguing in the valet parking lot of Baltimore’s Residence Inn by Marriott. The footage took an unexpected turn when it showed Shakurah Eason run over her husband, Donald Eason, while in reverse and then once more driving forward.

Following two days of heated arguments between counsel, the jury found the defendant guilty of second-degree murder on Aug. 25. Shakurah, 29, was found not guilty of first-degree murder and verdicts were not rendered for the charges of second-degree depraved-heart murder and involuntary manslaughter.

Her sentencing was scheduled at 2:00 p.m. on Jan. 11, 2024.

On Nov. 13, 2021, the Virginia residents accompanied their aunt to Baltimore and checked in at the hotel on the 800 block of N. Wolfe Street before meeting a cousin at a restaurant named Sizzle, the prosecutor explained. After having three drinks, Shakurah wanted to leave and went to find her husband, who was standing by their white Nissan Infiniti and talking to another woman. This sparked an argument between the couple that continued during their drive back to the hotel around 2:15 a.m. on Nov. 14, 2021.

Inside the car, Shakurah told officers with the Baltimore Police Department, she hit Donald and then he hit her back after which he got out of the car. The footage shows Donald standing by the driver’s side window and arguing with Shakurah for about 15 to 20 minutes. Then, he tries to pull her out of the car.

Donald stepped away from and returned to the driver’s side door multiple times, the prosecutor said, but during his last time, Shakurah put the car in reverse, dragging Donald underneath the car through the wheel well.

The prosecutor noted that Shakurah opened her car window, looked outside to see her husband under the car and then drove forward.

Donald was taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he died from his injuries on Nov. 20, 2021.

“She’s looking out her window because she feels something,” the prosecutor said. “…She continues to drive backwards knowing that Donald Eason is under her car. It wasn’t the curb; it was the body of Donald Eason.”

“From a silent film, no matter what the movie is, you can get the gist of what’s going on,” defense attorney Tony Garcia told jurors during his closing argument on Thursday. However, he added, it’s the sound that puts all of the pieces together.

Garcia, who also referenced the video footage of the incident, focused the jury’s attention on Donald, saying he was “exerting control over [Shakurah’s] body [and] over her will” to get her out of the car. His client believed the victim was walking away when she put her car in reverse, causing Donald’s foot to get caught in the wheel well.

Based on their history, Garcia said, “I think it was very clear that these two loved one another,” and Shakurah did not intend to harm her husband.