Jury Hears Closing Arguments for Three Homicide Co-Defendants

By Breeze Cofield [former] - February 7, 2024
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

On Feb. 6, closing arguments in the murder trial of defendants Darian Adams, Kamal Robinson and Raquan Baylor took place before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Jennifer B. Schiffer. 

All three defendants are charged in connection to the June 22, 2019 death of 33-year-old Antonio Jackson on the 800 block of North Bradford.

Adams, 28, is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, firearm use in a felony violent crime, having a handgun on his person, having a handgun in a vehicle on a public road and illegal possession of a regulated firearm. 

Robinson, 22, is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, firearm use in a felony violent crime, having a handgun on his person, having a handgun in a vehicle on a public road and possession of a firearm as a minor. 

Baylor, 27, is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, having a handgun on his person and having a handgun in a vehicle on a public road. 

The assistant state’s attorney addressed the jury in her closing argument, stating that at 11:11 a.m. on the day of the crime, the defendants allegedly executed Jackson. Another man known as “Mr. Jones” or “Pootie” was murdered ten hours prior and that, says the prosecution, triggered Jackson’s killing.

“If you take all of the information, you can have a trail that tracks the defendants through the city and to the scene where the victim was killed. Find them guilty,” she said. 

Robinson’s defense attorney, Bradley L. MacFee, opened his argument by saying, “I’ve had the case for three-and- a-half years, and I’m not sure what happened. A lot of what you heard is what the state’s theory is.” 

MacFee claimed that just because the assistant state’s attorney said that his client was there does not mean that he was. “There’s no proof of that,” he said. MacFee argued none of his client’s DNA or fingerprints were on or near the scene. 

“There’s a lot of holes in this case. We’ll never know,” he closed. 

Baylor’s defense attorney, Michael Tomko, asked the jury: “Would you make any major decisions in your own life based on the evidence presented by the state? I suggest to you that you should want more and you need more.” 

Tomko said there were no eyewitnesses who identified his client. Tomko asserted that the prosecution had a good theory, but “theories don’t prove, evidence does.”

“The state indicates that there’s a motive of PootiePootie being killed,, but there’s no motive to tie this story together … There’s only one answer.. The defendant is not guilty,” said Adams’ defense attorney Brandon Mead.