Argument Between Couple in Northwest Baltimore Escalates to Attempted Murder Charge

By Andrew Michaels - April 4, 2024
Attempted Murder | Court | Daily Stories | Non-Fatal Shooting | Shooting | Suspects |

A couple’s argument “nearly turned deadly” outside the home of defendant Dwaun Hawkins’ then-girlfriend where he is accused of shooting at several people who attempted to intervene, a Baltimore City prosecutor said on April 4.

Hawkins, whose trial began Thursday morning, is currently facing more than two dozen charges in connection to the incident on Aug. 10, 2023, including multiple counts of attempted murder, assault and weapons charges.

Defense attorney Jason Rodriguez is representing the 41-year-old defendant at trial before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Robert K. Taylor Jr.

On the date in question, the defendant and his now-former girlfriend were having an argument inside her home in Garwyn Oaks, the prosecutor said during his opening statement. According to charging documents, the woman’s grandson confronted Hawkins, who then began punching the 21-year-old repeatedly.

After a 16-year-old teenager and a 21-year-old woman inside the home attempted to intervene, the prosecutor said, the incident escalated outside where Hawkins allegedly shot at the three young victims on the 2400 block of Elsinore Avenue in Northwest Baltimore.

“[The defendant] wasn’t going to just stop…” the prosecutor said.

Baltimore Police Department (BPD) officers arrested Hawkins at the scene as the defendant was packing up his belongings and putting them inside his work van. The prosecutor said police later searched the van, “but not well.”

It wasn’t until the defendant’s boss went through the van in Howard County when Hawkins’ employer found a loaded handgun.

Rodriguez countered this was a “very simple case,” boiling it down to a family dispute.

“We’re essentially being asked to interject in a family disturbance that everybody has moved on from,” defense counsel told the jury.

The defense attorney added that his client was assaulted during the incident, clarifying that “Dwaun absolutely did not shoot at anyone.”

The trial proceeded with testimony from one of the victims.