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By
Massiel Morales [former]
- July 29, 2022
Court
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Daily Stories
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Homicides
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Shooting
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Suspects
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Victims
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On July 29, a jury found Arthur Holt guilty on two counts of first-degree murder, use of a firearm during a violent crime, and possession of a firearm with a felony conviction after a two-day deliberation.
Holt, now 29 years old, was 27 when he murdered Dontrell Toliver on the 400 block of North Montford Avenue on April 6, 2020.
A Baltimore City detective, who was the first officer at the scene, responded to calls about shots being fired around 2:30am. He testified on what he saw at the crime scene and procedures he followed for homicides.
One of the pieces of evidence admitted was a still photo from a store footage that was collected as evidence. Amongst the witnesses, several detectives testified that the storage footage helped them identify Holt as a suspect from the still images taken from the footage .
A crime technician was called by the prosecutor to testify about his findings at the crime scene where recovered projectiles from the sidewalk. Defense attorney, Catherine Flynn, questioned him about his experience and how long he had been going to crime sites and recovering evidence on his own. He told the court that he had been going to crime scenes on his own for a month before the homicide happened.
A forensic expert testified that based on the bullet discoveries from the crime scene, she concluded that two guns were used.
The assistant medical examiner’s testimony included the manner of death was ruled a homicide due to nine gunshot wounds as well as mention that two different bullet types were found in the victim’s body.
The victim sustained injuries to the stomach, lungs and left kidney from a gunshot wound to the chest. As well as injuries to the bones, arteries and blood vessels from a gunshot wound to his right arm.
Defense told Baltimore Witness staff they will appeal the verdict.
Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Barry G. Williams presided over the trial.