The trial of 38-year old Everett Schwartz, already a convicted killer, continued on April 21 before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Alan C. Lazerow with testimony about DNA evidence.
Schwartz is currently serving a 39-year sentence for the Jan. 21, 2021 murder of 46-year-old Tavaughn Anderson, as well as a separate 18-year sentence in a non-fatal shooting that occurred just one week after Anderson’s death.
Now five years later, Schwartz is now being tried for the murder of 34-year old Timothy Orem, who was shot and killed within days of the two incidents.
On Feb. 1, 2021, Baltimore Police oficers found Orem on the 3600 block of Shelby Avenue, lying face up in the middle of the road and suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to his torso. Crime scene technicians also recovered six .40-caliber cartridge casings, a pack of Newport cigarettes, two cigarette butts, one cellphone and $10 in cash.
According to testimony from a forensic analyst, DNA collected from one cigarette butt and several of the unused Newports produced single-source male DNA profiles that closely matched Schwartz.
During cross-examination, defense attorney Jason P. Rodriguez contested the legitimacy of the DNA results, emphasizing that the nature of DNA transfer makes it difficult to determine when the traces were left on the cigarettes.
The trial is set to continue on April 22.
