Jury Acquits Attempted Murder Defendant of All Charges

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Attempted murder defendant William Elliot was found not guilty and acquitted of all charges by a jury before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Yvette M. Bryant on April 18.

Elliot, 29, was charged with attempted first- and second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault, and related gun and conspiracy violations in connection to a shooting that took place Sept. 8, 2022 in the 1800 block of N. Calvert Street.

According to charging documents, Baltimore Police Department (BPD) officers arrived at the scene and located a man with a gunshot wound to the chest affecting his abdomen. He was transported to John Hopkins Hospital for treatment. A BPD sergeant who treated the victim at the scene testified that the victim appeared calm and not in any noticeable pain.

He later identified Elliot as the alleged shooter and said Elliot’s girlfriend, 32-year-old Saidah Williams, robbed him before the couple drove off in a black Honda. A crime lab technician at the scene testified she recovered a shell casing and suspected blood, but did not order DNA tests because she didn’t know how long the evidence had been there.

The prosecution said video footage alone was enough evidence to convict Elliot of all charges and quoted a clip of the victim saying, “My brother shot me.” She said no motive, however seemingly stupid, renders a crime any less illegal.

Defense attorney Tony Garcia argued the victim was an unreliable narrator who was previously incarcerated, and accused him of being a drug dealer and high during his testimony. He emphasized that officers failed to recover guns, witnesses, or camera footage from the scene of the crime and claimed the prosecution lacked evidence to convict Elliot.