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By
Andrew Michaels
- May 15, 2024
Court
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Homicides
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Shooting
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Victims
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Multiple bullets taken from the body of 19-year-old Tavon Wilson Jr. were consistent with the handgun found on the driver’s side floor of defendant Clifton Shields’ BMW two days after he and two others allegedly gunned down the victim in Harlem Park.
During closing arguments on May 15, one of the prosecutors showed jurors the two bullets recovered from Wilson’s thigh and spine as a sheriff’s deputy carefully held the alleged murder weapon, a Polymer80 ghost gun. The gun was reportedly found at the defendant’s feet when he was pulled over by Baltimore Police on March 17, 2023, roughly 36 hours after the shooting on the 600 block of North Arlington Avenue.
The prosecutor said the gun was not only consistent with the recovered shell casings, but also likely contained Shields’ DNA. A second gun was also found in the BMW’s glovebox, but did not have the defendant’s DNA.
Earlier in the proceedings, the other prosecutor trying the case reviewed city surveillance footage that showed three occupants inside the BMW driving around the area of the crime scene before the shooting. After briefly parking about a block away from the scene, the BMW then drove to North Arlington Avenue. When the victim walked past the car, the three men are seen getting out, chasing Wilson and allegedly shooting him off screen before getting back in the car and driving away.
Police received a ShotSpotter alert and responded to the scene, she said, but did not locate Wilson right away. The victim was later found face down on a piece of cardboard behind a stoop.
“At the end of the day, Mr. Wilson lost his life for no reason,” one of the prosecutors said.
“This body, Mr. Wilson, didn’t just drop out of thin air,” the other prosecutor added. “He fell down and died after being shot three times.”
Defense attorney Judit Otvos, alongside co-counsel Lauren Dollar, first countered the prosecution’s video evidence, telling jurors that “we don’t actually see anything” aside from a car driving around the city. Although three men are seen getting out of the car and running, she continued, there is no evidence as to what they were doing.
Regarding Shields’ DNA on the alleged murder weapon, Otvos said the sample was a mixture of DNA taken from the gun’s handle and magazine, making it difficult to determine where Shield’s DNA was actually found. The defense attorney noted that the gun may have become contaminated when a crime lab technician placed it on the BMW’s driver’s seat where Shields had been sitting.
“That’s the problem with this case,” Otvos said. “There are a lot of assumptions, but nothing really going on. …There are too many questions left unanswered.”
Following closing arguments, Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Robert K. Taylor Jr. dismissed the jury to begin deliberations.