Homicide Defendant Maintains Innocence As Trial Begins for Laurens Street Shooting

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Moses Rush Jr. was dropped off at his house by a friend on the evening of July 16, 2020, on the 1600 block of Laurens Street. Moments later, his friend suddenly heard gunshots and looked in his car mirror to find two people standing in front of Rush’s house.

A prosecutor with the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office provided snippets of information about what the jury should expect to hear in the homicide trial of Tovarren Scott, which began on Jan. 10 before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Gregory Sampson.

Scott, 37, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and firearm possession with a felony conviction, in addition to a single count of firearm use in a felony violent crime.

During her opening statements Tuesday morning, the prosecutor said that Rush’s friend saw two people walk past his car and saw them again from his rear and side view mirrors after the gunshots. Rush and Scott allegedly had a verbal and physical altercation a week before the shooting.

One piece of evidence identifying Scott as one of the shooters is a cast he had around his left arm that he was seen wearing before and during the incident, the prosecutor said. Further investigation into Scott’s cell phone records also revealed that the defendant was within two blocks of Rush’s home when the shooting occurred around 9 p.m.

When Scott’s defense attorney, David Soloman, stood before the jury, he said that his client maintained his innocence and informed the jurors that it would be the prosecution’s job to convince them of Scott’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Soloman used the analogy of a car accident between two people, comparing Scott to the driver accused of causing the accident.

Rather than pay the metaphorical damages, Soloman said, Scott will fight for his innocence.

“The structure of our judicial system and you as jurors in that structure” are in his favor, the defense attorney concluded.

Testimony began with one of the police officers who responded to the scene and is expected to continue into Tuesday afternoon.