After an initial conviction overturned on appeal in 2025, closing arguments were presented during the retrial of Donte Brown, 44, before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Charles Peters on Oct. 28.
Brown is charged with first-degree murder, firearm use in the commission of a violent crime, and several other weapons charges in connection to the murder of Tavon Hutton, 32, on the 400 block of W. Saratoga Street.
According to charging documents, Baltimore Police Department (BPD) officers responded to a shooting in front of a convenience store on Mar. 5, 2021. Officers observed a large crowd gathered around a victim lying on the sidewalk next to a wheelchair, suffering from gunshot wounds to his lower body. A folding knife and five 9mm casings were obtained from the scene.
Nearby surveillance footage allegedly showed Hutton, who was seated in a wheelchair, approached by two males who had come from an alleyway west of the location. One of the suspects and the victim engaged in a heated argument, when a suspect said to be Brown, pulled out a handgun and shot the victim. Investigators reported that the shooter was wearing a full- black face mask, all black clothing, and red sneakers. The two suspects immediately ran from the scene following the shooting, and video displayed the two fleeing in a Maserati parked at a nearby gas station.
Following an investigation of footage from area businesses and police surveillance of the suspect vehicle, a witness identified the defendant as the alleged shooter and claimed that he was in a romantic relationship with the registered owner of the Maserati.
During closing arguments, the prosecutor argued Brown had a clear intent to kill the victim, acknowledging how Brown approached the wheelchair-bound victim who had put his hands up, and shot him. She displayed still images of the suspect from surveillance footage, and asked jurors to compare the image to the defendant sitting in the courtroom. Further, the prosecutor asserted that the defendant had abandoned the suspect vehicle five days after the murder in a car wash in order to conceal his involvement in the crime.
She continued to highlight the notable red shoes, black outfit, and dangling keychain seen throughout surveillance footage. The prosecution emphasized the suspect’s stride, mentioning that his hands were in his pockets in every piece of footage. She insisted that the defendant intended to murder earlier that day by going to the gas station where the Maseradi would later be parked in order to plan ahead.
In opposition, defense attorney Staci Pipkin stated that no single witness declared that Brown was the individual who shot Hutton, nor that he had abandoned a vehicle in a car wash, and told jurors that the prosecutor was the only one who made that claim.
Additionally, Pipkin questioned why there were no attempts made to figure out the driver of the Maserati from a traffic stop that occurred three days before the murder. She also said there was no identification of the shooter or the second suspect and no names of witnesses from the group outside of the convenience store, leading her to believe that the prosecution “painted the story totally wrong.”
She also argued against the state’s mention of the suspect’s walk, telling jurors that she walks with her hands in her pockets, and it is not evidence to convict of murder. Pipkin attempted to discredit the investigation stating that the witness who identified Brown had never fully met him and that the owner of the vehicle was not interviewed.
Jurors deliberations began following closing arguments.
