38-Year-Old Man Found Guilty of ‘Executing’ Victim on Cliftview Avenue

By Andrew Michaels - January 27, 2023
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

“No, no, no, no, no!”

The voice of 35-year-old Anthony Cain Jr. rang out from a television in a small Baltimore City Circuit courtroom on Jan. 27 as the prosecution played video surveillance of his final moments before he was gunned down two years ago.

The three-day trial of 38-year-old Trayon Waters concluded on Friday and, the very same day, jurors returned a guilty verdict for second-degree murder and three weapons charges before Judge Ronald Silkworth.

The defendant is currently scheduled for sentencing on April 13.

During closing arguments, jurors fell silent and remained still as they listened to and watched the prosecution’s footage that they had previously viewed early in the proceedings.

“He said, ‘No, no, no, no, no!’ and three shots went off,” the prosecutor said. “He begged again and the defendant shot him not once, not twice, but three times.”

The shooting occurred on the 1600 block of Cliftview Avenue, with video footage placing Cain at a nearby gas station before the shooting. The victim and another unidentified man were approached by three men, including Waters, on July 8, 2021.

After showing the jury graphic photos of Cain from his autopsy, the prosecution asked the jury to also acknowledge the description, specifically the clothing, of the alleged shooter and how the defendant was seen wearing the same clothes in the vicinity of the shooting.

Defense attorney Maureen Rowland replied by telling the jury that the prosecution was putting “so much weight” on the video but couldn’t precisely identify her client.

“There were at least six people there who saw the shooting and who saw who did it,” Rowland continued; however, Baltimore Police only interviewed one of them.

“Because [the police] jumped to this conclusion and grabbed onto my client as their suspect, they lost whatever other real suspect could be out there.”