Defendant Accused of Killing Local Rapper Takes The Stand

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“Hell no,” is what murder defendant Earl Lee said when asked if he killed David Boykin during his testimony in Baltimore City Circuit Court on June 28.

Lee, 28, is charged with first-degree murder, firearm use in a felony or violent crime and firearm possession with a felony conviction for allegedly shooting and killing Boykin, 28, a local rapper known as President Davo, on Oct. 6, 2023, outside of his house on the 2000 block of Cliftwood Avenue.

When Lee took the stand in his own defense before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Kendra Y. Ausby, he said the numerous confessions he gave police were lies. By telling the Baltimore Police Department detectives what they wanted to hear, he thought he would get to go home, he said.

He said that the stories he told police — including one about Boykin threatening his children and placing a $50,000 bounty on him — were the first things that came to mind when detectives questioned him.

When asked what happened the day of Boykin’s murder, Lee said that he lent his vehicle to someone he met while drunk the night before who needed it to move.

After giving the vehicle to him, Lee said he made his way to Prince George’s County and did not return until around midnight, so he could not have been in his vehicle, which was allegedly seen near the scene of the crime, at the time of the 6:15 p.m. shooting.

During their closing argument, the prosecution said that Lee told detectives seven stories during their interview and that there was no evidence to suggest that his testimony was not just another story.

“Now the defendant wants you to believe this B.S. story here today,” the prosecutor told jurors.

The prosecution also said that none of Lee’s witnesses were able to verify that he was working on the day of the murder and mentioned that if Lee confessed to a murder, he should not have expected to go home.

During his closing argument, Lee’s defense attorney Paul Kramer highlighted that because three different shell casings were found at the scene, there could be more than one shooter.

“That raises a reasonable doubt,” Kramer said.

The prosecution refuted Kramer’s argument by saying that an eyewitness testified that there was only one shooter.