Baltimore Man Convicted of 2021 Double Homicide on Flowerton Road

By Andrew Michaels , Taniya Moore [former] - July 2, 2023
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

A 22-year-old man accused of killing two cousins, Brian Palmer and Darrin Stewart, two years ago was found guilty of murder and weapons charges on June 30.

The jury returned their verdict the day after closing arguments, finding Raekwon Griffin guilty of first-degree felony murder, robbery with a dangerous weapon, second-degree murder and two counts of firearm use in a felony or violent crime. The defendant was acquitted of two counts of first-degree premeditated murder as well as single counts of conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.

Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey M. Geller presided over the trial.

Griffin’s cell phone was a crucial piece of evidence at trial, according to the prosecutor, who told jurors that his phone was placed on the 4300 block of Flowerton Road on Aug. 5, 2021, at the time of the fatal shooting. During her closing argument, the prosecutor noted that Griffin disconnected his phone number at 8:29 p.m. that night—12 minutes after the shooting occurred.

The next day, Baltimore Police Department (BPD) officers found the 2008 Subaru Sedan that witnesses reported driving away from the scene. Palmer’s handgun and cell phone were found inside the sedan, the latter containing text messages between Palmer and Griffin about meeting for a drug deal.

More text messages implicated Griffin when police searched his phone in 2022 and found a text he sent to an unknown individual, saying, “Who? Let me rob them.”

Defense attorney Kenneth Man denied the texts between Griffin and the unknown individual had anything to do with the incident. He claimed his client was present when the murders occurred, but he was not the one to pull the trigger.

“He was there to buy marijuana and a gun was pulled out,” Man said to the jury.

Regarding the defendant’s charges of conspiracy to kill Stewart and commit a robbery, defense counsel concluded that no one knew Stewart was in the vehicle at the time and no drugs were taken from the scene.