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By
Caroline Myers [former]
- September 22, 2021
Court
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Daily Stories
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Homicides
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Victims
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The prosecution and defense attorney in the trial of alleged murderer Cleveland DeShields presented their closing arguments to the jury on Sept. 21 at Baltimore City Circuit Court.
DeShields, 58, is charged with first-degree murder in connection to the death of his wife, Wanda Diggins on the 1700 block of N. Bentalou Street. According to counsel, Deshields allegedly assaulted his wife on Nov. 2, 2018, Diggins, 54, died on May 5, 2019, six months after the alleged assault that was ruled as her ultimate cause of death.
The prosecution’s main point was that this trial is not a “whodunit,” as he repeated to the jury many times, but rather, a clear-cut case of spousal murder.
The prosecution said DeShields was angry because Diggins was involved in his arrest two months prior. He spent those two months incarcerated before the charges were dropped and was released 10 days before the incident.
To place DeShields at the scene, the prosecution presented data from cell phone towers showing that his phone was in proximity to the location of the incident approximately four hours before the paramedics were called. He also used a 911 call from DeShields and Diggins’ niece who was in the house when it happened, saying that her uncle was hurting her aunt.
The prosecution felt that DeShields’ lack of contact with his wife after the incident was suspicious. He never tried to contact her phone and never visited her at the hospital.
Defense attorney Maureen Rowland argued that the prosecution only put forward conjecture presented as facts, saying the prosecution only believes that DeShields is guilty based on a series of assumptions.
Rowland said DeShields and Diggins had a type of marriage where they fought all the time. The lawyer said, DeShields just beat her, he was not trying to kill her. The statement visibly upset one of the victim’s relatives who stormed out of the courtroom.
Rowland told the jury that they are not here to vindicate Diggins or to make her family feel better, but they are there to decide if the prosecution has proved DeShields is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The jury began deliberating on Sept. 21.