A 46-year-old man accused of fatally stabbing his housemate almost three years ago in East Baltimore represented himself at his homicide trial on Dec. 5, delivering opening statements before jurors and Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Cynthia H. Jones in his correctional jumpsuit rather than civilian clothes.
Jamal Smith is accused of stabbing 29-year-old housemate Robert Parker to death on Jan. 27, 2022 following a verbal altercation that quickly escalated into violence in their shared residence on the 1500 block of E. 28th Street.
Smith is charged with first-degree murder and use of a deadly weapon with intent to injure in connection to Parker’s death, which occurred in the hours after police initially responded to the residence to break up an altercation the two were engaged in earlier in the day.
The prosecution advised during their opening statement that jurors would be made privy to body-worn camera footage from police officers’ initial response to the property, in which Smith could reportedly be heard telling law enforcement responders, “Y’all gonna be back here tonight.”
Smith denied making such a statement during his opening statement, telling jurors, “That was not my words,” and arguing he was not at the scene of the crime at the time of Parker’s death.
“What you’re gonna find out about this case is that Jamal Smith – myself – was not at the scene of the crime,” Smith told jurors. He emphasized a lack of DNA or firearm evidence linking himself to Parker’s death, as well as eyewitnesses that saw him commit the murder.
Charging documents and statements from the prosecution claim officers were waiting for a search and seizure warrant to the residence when they noticed, then decided to follow a blood trail from the property to a nearby shed on The Alameda parkway. Seeing what appeared to be blood on the shed’s door handles, officers obtained permission from the property’s owner and forced the shed open to find Smith inside it with his hands bleeding significantly from injuries.
“They exaggerate the amount of blood that was on me,” Smith told jurors at trial. He claimed he sustained the injuries to his hands while rushing through the shed seeking shelter, and emphasized that only his own, and none of Parker’s, blood was found on his person.
The prosecution noted the residence’s basement was occupied by a couple who would later testify at trial to the events they witnessed the day of Parker’s death.
The trial is expected to continue Monday with additional witness testimony.
