Accused Getaway Driver in 2022 Murder on Ruskin Avenue Goes on Trial

By Andrew Michaels - February 25, 2024
Attempted Murder | Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Non-Fatal Shooting | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

The accused getaway driver charged for the murder of 28-year-old Donte Lee was not involved, his defense counsel argued at the start of trial on Feb. 22 when she ensured the jury “the devil is in the details.”

Leonard Joyner, 31, is on trial for first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, firearm use in a felony or violent crime and having a loaded handgun in a vehicle for his alleged involvement in Lee’s death on Jan. 24, 2022. His co-defendant, Da’quan Hawks, is facing similar charges and is scheduled to appear in Baltimore City Circuit Court’s reception court on April 8.

During Thursday’s opening statements, one of Joyner’s attorneys, Latoya Francis-Williams, asked the jury to listen and pay close attention to the details of the case. What they should expect to hear is that while Hawks’ DNA was allegedly found on the murder weapon, Joyner’s DNA was not found.

“Not in January. Not in February. Not in March. Not any time,” Francis-Williams said.

Earlier in the proceedings, the prosecution said Lee and two other men were going home to the 2200 block of Ruskin Avenue where city surveillance footage allegedly shows the suspect run and get into a gray Nissan Acura just after the shooting. The same vehicle then goes to Johns Hopkins Hospital and the passenger—later identified as Hawks—seeks treatment for a gunshot wound.

Baltimore Police Department officers saw the suspected vehicle about a week later, the prosecutor explained, and pulled it over on the 500 block of Edgewood Street. Joyner was identified as the driver and allegedly during police questioning admitted to picking up Hawks on the day of the shooting.

The handgun used in the shooting was also found about a month later near a sidewalk on Ruskin Avenue, the prosecution said.

Testimony in Joyner’s trial began Thursday afternoon and is expected to continue on Feb. 23 before Judge Barry G. Williams. In addition to Francis-Williams, Joyner is also represented by attorneys Sheridan Yeary and Rodney Hill.