BB Gun Shooting: A Homicide or an Accident?

Thank you for reading Baltimore Witness. Help us continue our mission into 2024.

The prosecution argued that a man charged with murder and attempted murder of a couple using a high-powered BB gun had motive and the ability to shoot.

Taiwan Mitchell, 41, is charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and two counts of possession of an air pellet gun in connection to the death of Roy Henry Cantler III and the attempted murder of his girlfriend.

On Nov. 30, the prosecution explained, before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Dana M. Middleton, that both victims were drug users squatting in an abandoned house. They were desperate for work and started selling drugs with Mitchell, but there was allegedly a dispute about money, which led to the shooting.

The prosecutor stated on Nov. 13, 2021, on the 2200 block of Christian Street, Mitchell allegedly shot 36-year-old Cantler in the eye and the other victim in the arm.

The prosecution said Mitchell had access to a BB gun because he was allegedly seen three days prior to the shooting one block away with a BB gun.

Additionally, there was evidence linked to BB gun use in Mitchell’s car in the form of carbon dioxide canisters which provide the explosive power source for the pellet during discharge.

The prosecution told the jury the testimony of a single eyewitness is enough to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and asked them to find Mitchell guilty.

Mitchell’s attorney, Staci Pipkin, expanded on this statement, adding that the witness must be believable and argued that the prosecution’s was not.

Pipkin asked the jury if the fatal shooting of one BB pellet at a person should be qualified as a murder or a freak accident?

She also emphasized that Mitchell has been waiting for this trial for two years.

Follow this case