Trial Begins for Pennsylvania Teen Killed Over Car Sale

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The trial began for an 18-year-old accused of killing another teen during an attempted Facebook Marketplace car sale in Baltimore City Circuit Court Sept. 3.

Marques Harris is charged with first-degree murder, firearm use in a felony violent crime, attempted first- and second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, possession of a firearm as a minor and having a handgun on his person for the death of 18-year-old high school senior Carlos Carrazana Ricardo.

In her opening statement before Judge Levi S. Zaslow, the prosecutor explained to jurors Carrazana Ricardo drove with his friend to Baltimore from Pennsylvania to respond to a Facebook Marketplace ad for the sale of a 2006 Honda Acura. When they met Harris on the 2700 block of Harlem Avenue, they discovered the car had some issues and didn’t take it for a test drive. As they were driving away, gunshots rang out and Carrazana Ricardo slumped over the wheel. His friend tried to take control of the vehicle, but crashed a few blocks away before flagging down police.

Without video of the shooting itself or the alleged murder weapon, the prosecution plans to call a medical examiner, an expert on the ShotSpotter gunshot alert system and Carrazana Ricardo’s friend to testify.

Defense attorney Cheyenne Smith argued her client was innocent and simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. The neighborhood where the shooting took place, in the Baltimore Police Department’s Western District, is a “high-crime area,” where shootings are common, she said. Though Carrazana Ricardo’s death was a tragedy, his interaction with Harris was “a pleasant business interaction on a rough block.”

Smith said the prosecution’s lack of video or an eyewitness to say Harris had a gun at all that night will prove his innocence.

Testimony began Tuesday morning.