Duane Avenue Park Murder a Case of, ‘He Said, She Said’

By Racquel Bazos [former] - May 9, 2024
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Videtta A. Brown presided over opening statements in a murder trial which will be decided over whether the jury believes the 23-year-old defendant or his ex-girlfriend.

Darius Joyner is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, conspiracy to use a firearm in a felony violent crime and having a handgun on his person in connection to the 2023 death of 29-year-old Adam White.

The case will revolve around who jurors believe manipulated who: Joyner’s former girlfriend or the defendant himself. 

On May 9, the prosecutor explained that Joyner’s “ex”, who has full immunity from being charged in this case, was allegedly sexually assaulted by White at their workplace in May 2022. Then White sent her a Facebook friend request in February 2023. At that point, the prosecutor claimed Joyner “started planning” and “manipulated” his girlfriend into arranging a meeting between herself and White. 

White and Joyner’s girlfriend met at a park on the 4100 block of Duane Avenue on Feb. 28, 2023. After 30 minutes, two shooters, one armed with a 9mm handgun and one with a 12 gauge shotgun, ambushed them. White suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the back, including the fatal wound, which went through his spine and into his heart.

The prosecutor described Joyner’s girlfriend as a “scared” victim of her “controlling” partner, who used her Facebook account to plan the crime.  

Defense attorney Karyn Meriwether was emphatic that Joyner’s ex was not, in fact, a victim. Rather, she said she was “a puppet-master” who “orchestrated the death of Adam White.”

Whereas the prosecutor’s theory was that Joyner wanted to exact revenge on White for his girlfriend’s sexual assault, Meriwether argued it was his girlfriend herself who wanted revenge, which motivated her to kill White, to lie about her involvement and to implicate Joyner. 

Apart from Joyner’s ex’s testimony, Meriwether said there would be no evidence connecting her client to the shooting itself or its planning. Because the prosecution’s case hinges on the ex’s testimony, the defense will aim to impugn her credibility. None of her testimony will have corroboration, Meriwether said. 

“Zero evidence plus zero credibility … plus zero corroboration,” she told jurors would equal zero reason to convict her client. 

Testimony began Thursday afternoon. The trial began only after Judge Brown’s refusing to accept Joyner’s agreed-upon plea deal Tuesday.

Baltimore Police Department (BPD) investigators have not yet identified the second shooter suspected of killing White.