Opening statements were heard May 6 before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Alan C. Lazerow in the murder trial of 39-year-old Dominic Pressley, who is charged in connection to a triple shooting that left 30-year-old Alan Grant dead and two others injured.
Pressley faces charges including first-degree murder, attempted murder, assault and multiple firearm offenses stemming from a July 20, 2024 shooting on the 2400 block of Loyola Northway.
The state’s attorney told jurors the evidence would show the shooting followed a dispute at a birthday party. According to the state, attendees had gathered to celebrate when Pressley arrived at the apartment complex looking for a woman attending the gathering. Jurors were told they would see surveillance footage showing an altercation outside the apartment involving Grant, the defendant and several other individuals.
The state argued that after the confrontation, Pressley returned to the apartment building where his girlfriend was located and began firing shots through the front door of the apartment.
“You don’t shoot people for a dispute,” the state’s attorney told jurors.
The state said surveillance footage would show Pressley firing a weapon and that evidence would establish he was responsible for Grant’s death. Prosecutors told jurors that Grant died from a gunshot wound to the head and that multiple other individuals were struck during the incident.
Defense attorney Angela Shelton offered a different account, arguing that the state’s evidence fails to provide the complete story of what occurred that night.
According to the defense, Pressley went to the apartment after realizing his girlfriend was not at home and arrived to find a chaotic and violent situation unfolding. Shelton argued that critical Ring camera footage had been deleted, preventing investigators from determining exactly what happened before the shooting began.
The defense contended that Pressley’s girlfriend had been involved in a physical altercation and that Pressley was attempting to protect her when violence erupted.
Shelton also told jurors that investigators recovered evidence suggesting multiple firearms may have been involved. She argued that shell casings from different caliber weapons were found at the scene and that witness accounts were unreliable because many partygoers had been drinking heavily.
The defense further stated that Pressley himself was shot in the left thigh during the incident.
Shelton argued that the state cannot prove the fatal bullet that killed Grant came from Pressley’s firearm and maintained that the missing Ring camera footage raises significant questions about the events leading up to the shooting.
The trial is ongoing.
