‘We May Never Know What Happened,’ Defense Says in Mannasota Avenue Murder Trial

By Andrew Michaels - October 26, 2023
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

Defense counsel did not contest the Baltimore Police Department’s (BPD) investigation into the murder of 30-year-old Trevon Williams last year, attorney Natalie Finegar said to a jury on Oct. 26. But, she continued, there’s still not enough evidence to convict her client, Darries Sommerville.

The 29-year-old defendant is on trial on charges of first-degree murder, firearm use in a felony or violent crime, firearm possession with a felony conviction and having a handgun on his person in connection to Williams’ murder on the 3500 block of Mannasota Avenue on July 31, 2022.

Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Dana M. Middleton is presiding over the three-day trial.

Following jury selection on Thursday, Finegar explained to the jury “this may be a situation where we may never know what happened.”

“What we have is a fraction of the views of what happened that day,” she said, telling jurors there were no witnesses nor video of the actual shooting. “…It’s a tragedy. Nobody deserves to have that happen to them.”

According to the prosecution, a review of the victim’s cell phone records showed Sommerville had called Williams less than 20 minutes before the shooting. City surveillance footage showed the defendant and victim meet at the corner of Belair Road and Erdman Avenue before walking together to the convenience store in an Exxon gas station. A short time later, the two walked toward Mannasota Avenue and then backtracked when Williams walked out of the city camera’s view.

In her opening statement, the prosecutor said Sommerville is seen reaching into his jacket, walking behind the bush and then running away.

Williams was found with a single close-contact gunshot wound to his head and was pronounced dead at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He was in possession of a backpack filled with marijuana, Finegar noted.

The prosecutor asked the jury to pay close attention to the defendant’s cell phone records and the city’s surveillance footage, both of which placed Sommerville in the area of the crime scene. Finegar was quick to rebut her client’s involvement given there was no footage of the actual shooting, no motive and no gun tied to the defendant.

“You have a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle and you have 75 percent of the pieces,” Finegar concluded.