The murder trial of 66-year-old Norman Waker resumed on Oct. 17 before Baltimore City Judge Jeffrey M. Geller for closing arguments.
The jury is deliberating charges stemming from the killing of a resident and the injury of another man in a confrontation at the Pleasant View Gardens senior living complex on Feb. 20.
Waker is facing charges of first-degree murder, attempted murder, assault, felony firearm use, and possession of a handgun for fatally shooting Clyde Barnes, 79, and injuring another resident by shooting him in the neck. The second victim, who was 72 at the time, was listed in critical condition but has since recovered.
The prosecution opened by showing jurors surveillance footage that tracked Waker’s actions leading up to the shooting. Waker was seen boarding and exiting the elevator on his wheelchair, checking the security desk, and entering the garbage room with a trash bag before emerging without it, suggesting to the prosecutor a consciousness of guilt.
The prosecution presented the hoodie Waker wore during the incident, reiterating that recovered residue from the garment was likely a positive match for Barnes’ blood. They maintained that Waker’s previous testimony was riddled with inconsistencies, claiming he had eight months to come up with a story for trial.
Defense attorney Matthew Connell described the hardships Waker has confronted asking the court, “Do you think he had an easy life?”
Connell claimed Waker lives in a home so infested with rats that police refused to let their K-9s into the building.
“He has to be overmedicated just to make it back and forth to court,” Connell said about his elderly client, an amputee who takes prescription medication for chronic pain.
Connell argued a so-called imperfect claim of self-defense, claiming Waker thought the use of force against Barnes was justified given the situation. He noted that Waker and Barnes were acquainted for 25 years — long enough for Waker to know when to be concerned about Barnes’ behavior.
