Jury Finds Teenage Defendant Not Guilty of 18-Year-Old’s Murder

By Emma-Victoria Villanueva [former] - June 27, 2022
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Suspects | Victims |

On June 24, a jury found Deshon Walker not guilty of the murder of Riyad Campbell before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Videtta Brown.

Walker, 19, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, five counts of use of a firearm during a violent crime, three counts of reckless endangerment from a car, two counts of first-degree attempted murder, two counts of conspiracy to first-degree murder, possession of a firearm as a minor, having a loaded handgun in a vehicle, two counts of attempted armed robbery, and three counts of conspiracy to commit armed robbery in connection to the murder of 18-year-old Campbell. 

On the first day of testimony the surviving witness, a close friend of Campbell, identified Walker as one of the armed assailants who allegedly robbed Campbell, the witness and another 18-year-old victim.

The witness said, on March 23, 2020, he and two friends, including Campbell, tried to purchase alcohol at a liquor store on Washington Boulevard. Almost immediately after they left the liquor store, according to the witness, a group of five to 10 individuals ran-up on the three and robbed them of their belongings. 

After fleeing the scene, the victims allegedly went back to recover some of their belongings. They were allegedly followed by a vehicle that Walker and his co-defendants: Devin Thompson and James Boisseau were in. 

Someone from the vehicle fired a shot through the back windshield of the car that Campbell in the back, the witness told police. The witness then allegedly drove to Saint Agnes hospital, where Campbell was pronounced dead. 

It was this testimony that was instrumental in Walker’s not-guilty verdict, Tony Garcia, Walker’s defense attorney, told Baltimore Witness after the verdict’s decision.

 “The hospital records didn’t match up with the time that they said things occurred. What I believe happened here is that the victim of this case — not the deceased one, but the other victim who claimed that they were robbed — I believe he made up a story because he was trapped. He was at a hospital, his good friend passed away, and he had to come up with a story as to why his car was shot up and his friend was killed,” Garcia said.

“The Baltimore Police did an investigation that showed that what he said happened didn’t happen the way he said it,” Garcia continued. “I think the jury saw through the fact that you have to be honest and the judicial system, whether you like it or not, will end up exposing the truth. I think that [the surviving victim] got exposed a little bit.”

The prosecutor also called Thompson to testify in accordance with his plea. Thompson notably changed his version of events four times during the judicial process, which discredited him as a witness in the eyes of the defense.

“I think that the state had a problem with the conflict between the police investigation and what the alleged victim was saying took place,” Garcia said. “[Devin Thompson] took a plea in exchange to testify against the other co-defendants. He changed his story four times and I think that hurt the state’s case because the guy who they chose to testify against the other co-defendants simply wasn’t credible. You can only cry wolf two or three times, but when you get to cry wolf a fourth time, you get to the point where somebody’s got to corroborate your story.”

Thompson pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder in the first-degree on July 23, 2021. 

The trial against Boisseau is scheduled to begin on Dec. 5.