Homicide Defendant’s Case Dismissed Due to Nature of His Charges

By Melaney Lemaster [former] - August 16, 2022
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects |

Charges were dismissed on Aug. 15 against homicide defendant Christian St. Rose during his bench trial before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Gregory Sampson. 

Christian St. Rose, 28, and co-defendant Jamol Kingsborough, 28, are charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of firearm use during a felony violent crime in connection to an incident on May 21, 2021. 

According to court documents, Kingsborough was seen on surveillance video riding a scooter down W. Lexington Street where the victim was fatally shot. Following the shooting, Kingsborough is seen on video walking toward W. Fairmount Street where St. Rose was parked. St. Rose was then seen driving away once Kingsborough entered the vehicle. 

During St. Rose’s bench trial, the prosecution presented testimony from a detective involved in the case. He said he reviewed surveillance footage of the crime scene, and footage from the street St. Rose was parked on. Since St. Rose had picked up Kingsborough after the shooting, the detective said he thought they both planned the shooting. The detective said St. Rose had been acting suspicious during their investigation, asking his wife if he could listen to her phone interview with the detective. 

“The only way I could’ve stopped it was to stand in front of it, but I wasn’t going to do that,” the detective said he heard St. Rose say during jail phone calls. The detective then testified that he believed that comment suggested that St. Rose had been aware of Kingsborough’s plan to shoot the victim, making him a part of the plan. 

During cross examination, St. Rose’s defense attorney, Warren Brown, said there was no footage of the vehicle on the street where the crime occurred. He said there is a no evidence to suggest that St. Rose was aware that Kingsborough was armed or intended to shoot the victim. 

In closing arguments, the prosecution said St. Rose knew to pick-up Kingsborough near the location of the crime scene and reiterated that the comment made during a jail phone call suggested that Kingsborough and St. Rose had planned to shoot the victim. 

St. Rose’s defense argued that the state did not have enough evidence to suggest that St. Rose was responsible for the shooting.

The statement made by St. Rose can be interpreted in many different ways and did not explicitly suggest that he was aware of the shooting, counsel said. Furthermore, Brown said St. Rose was not being charged with accessory to murder, he is being charged with first-degree murder, which the prosecution does not have sufficient evidence to charge him with. 

After final arguments, Judge Sampson dismissed all charges against St. Rose. 

St. Rose’s co-defendant, Kingsborough, had his case postponed due to his lawyer being ill. 

Kingsborough’s trial is scheduled for Oct. 31.