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By
Andrew Michaels
- May 12, 2024
Court
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Daily Stories
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Homicides
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Shooting
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Suspects
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Victims
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The homicide trial of Clifton Shields rests heavily on circumstantial evidence, a Baltimore City prosecutor said on May 10, specifically, the defendant’s DNA that she said was found on the gun he used to kill 19-year-old Tavon Wilson Jr. in March 2023.
On Friday morning, Shields began his jury trial for Wilson’s murder before Circuit Court Judge Robert K. Taylor Jr. with representation from defense attorneys Judit Otvos and Lauren Dollar. He is currently charged with two counts of first-degree murder as well as four weapons charges, including possessing a firearm as a minor.
During opening statements, the prosecutor told jurors that Wilson was shot just before midnight on March 15, 2023, on the 600 block of North Arlington Avenue. Officers with the Baltimore Police Department responded to the area after receiving a ShotSpotter alert and found city surveillance footage that captured the moments before and after the shooting, including the suspect’s vehicle, a silver BMW.
The vehicle was later linked to Shields, who the prosecutor said was seen getting into the BMW near Lexington Market roughly 36 hours after the shooting. Police later found two guns inside the BMW, one of which allegedly had the defendant’s DNA.
After further investigation, police determined the partial shell casings and live round found at the crime scene in addition to the three bullet fragments retrieved from Wilson’s body were consistent with the firearm containing the defendant’s DNA. An analysis of Shields’ cell phone also placed him in the area at the time of the shooting, the prosecutor said.
Otvos argued that the case rested on “assumptions and speculation.” Defense counsel explained that the ShotSpotter system has previously alerted police to sounds other than gunfire and that Shields’ cell phone placed him in the area because he lived nearby.
“That video does not show nearly as much as the [prosecution] think it shows,” Otvos added, saying viewers will be unable to identify those seen in the “grainy” footage.
Testimony began shortly after opening statements and is expected to continue on May 13.