Opening statements comenced on Nov. 4 before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Lynn Mays in the trial of 29-year-old Devontaye Richardson–one of three men accused in the October 27, 2024, Federal Hill shooting that left 19-year-old Cameran Holt dead.
Richardson, who is being represented by defense attorney Daniel Mooney, faces multiple charges, including first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and several firearm-related offenses.
The prosecution told jurors that on the night of the incident, Richardson and his co-defendants were out in Federal Hill when an altercation occurred between the defendant and a victim. They said that although the victim also brandished a gun, he drove off before Richardson, alongside co-defendants Alexis Cancel-Soto and Daeshaun Tyreke Clark, ran toward his vehicle at an intersection and opened fire from behind.
“We don’t know whose bullet struck the victim,” the prosecution told the jury. “But both Richardson and Cancel-Soto fired at a victim’s vehicle from behind Cameran Holt’s car.”
In response, Mooney told jurors that four different sets of cartridge casings were recovered from the scene, indicating there were multiple shooters, but not his client. “Devontaye Richardson is not guilty. He did not shoot a gun that night,” Mooney said.
The defense argued that Richardson was not involved in the confrontation and that surveillance footage from that night showed him drinking and socializing, not engaging in conflict. According to Mooney, the footage captured a victim arguing with a tall man wearing a camo-colored jacket, who was later seen pulling out a Draco semi-automatic pistol..
Mooney stated that the evidence will show it was co-defendants Cancel-Soto and Clark, as well as the man in the camo-colored jacket, who fired toward a victim’s car. Richardson was only seen handing a gun to another man wearing a jacket with red lettering before stepping away.
He also said that detectives interviewed two eyewitnesses at the scene who did not identify Richardson. “It wasn’t until after they were shown a photo array that his name was mentioned,” Mooney told the jury.
Mooney concluded by saying that the evidence will prove Richardson was nowhere near the victim’s car when the shots were fired and that his client had no role in the fatal shooting that night.
