Acquitted: 21-Year-Old Defendant Found Not Guilty of 2022 Ruskin Avenue Murder

By Andrew Michaels - September 6, 2024
Attempted Murder | Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Non-Fatal Shooting | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

A jury has acquitted 21-year-old Daquan Hawks of multiple murder and weapons charges in connection to the ambush killing of Donte Lee in January 2022.

Following a four-day trial before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Lynn S. Mays, Hawks was found not guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and firearm use in a felony or violent crime as well as attempted first-degree murder and having a loaded handgun on his person on Aug. 19. A motion for judgment of acquittal was granted as to the charge of having a loaded handgun in a vehicle.

Hawks was found guilty of being a minor in possession of a firearm at the time of the shooting on Jan. 24, 2022, and does not currently have a scheduled sentencing hearing.

According to the prosecution, the surviving victim detailed the incident that unfolded on the 2200 block of Ruskin Avenue where more than two dozen shell casings were found. However, defense attorney Staci Pipkin was quick to question the victim’s credibility, saying that his story changed on several occasions during interviews with Baltimore Police.

The prosecution claimed that Lee, 28, and the surviving victim were parked outside their home and approached by two men dressed in black and wearing masks. Hawks and the unidentified second shooter ran away when Lee returned fire, striking Lee once in his back.

With no video evidence of the shooting, Pipkin argued that the prosecution’s case rested on the surviving victim’s statements as well as grainy video of Hawks getting into the car of his 32-year-old co-defendant, Leonard Joyner, and driving away.

Joyner was acquitted of similar charges on Feb. 27.