Closing Arguments in Murder Linked to Prostitution Case

By Amna Syed [former] - September 18, 2023
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

On Sept. 18, the jury heard closing arguments before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Robert K. Taylor, Jr.  in the case of 24-year-old first-degree murder defendant Reubin McFadden.

According to the Maryland Judiciary website, McFadden is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, use of a firearm in a felony violent crime, conspiracy to use a firearm in a felony violent crime, robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery and having a handgun on his person in connection to the December 2019 killing of Marvin Mason. 

The assistant state’s attorney said that Dneah Smith, McFadden’s codefendant, walked into a Marathon gas station on West Baltimore Street with a gun in her handbag, but returned without it. He accused Smith of giving the gun to McFadden and argued that this would be considered accomplice liability and felony murder. 

The prosecutor said there were messages between Mason and an underage witness, allegedly regarding prostitution. After the incident, he said, the witness threw away her phone, afraid to be caught in the act.

Defense attorney Mary Lloyd Patton said when officers recovered Mason’s phone, it revealed messages from Smith asking both the victim and the witness to come to the gas station, which they did. 

Patton argued that there were about seven or eight people at the gas station that day, but only two people gave statements to police. She also stated that those who testified against McFadden in this trial had not identified him or testified against him prior to this trial. 

Patton said one of the witnesses changed her previous testimony. When questioned after the incident three years ago, the witness said it was not McFadden who had shot Mason. 

“There are so many ‘what if’s’,” Patton said. She stated that the case started with human trafficking and underage sex and ended with a man’s death . She claimed that the prosecutor had “textbook reasonable doubt,” meaning his statements were based on circumstantial evidence rather than the facts. She also argued there was no evidence Smith’s giving a gun to McFadden. 

Patton believed that because the witness was a victim of human trafficking, her mind may have been “fuzzy,” because the witness stated that she heard three gunshots while evidence showed that the victim was only shot once. 

The prosecutor countered saying that the witness may have heard the echo of one gunshot, making her believe there had been three shots. He said the witness was with the victim; they had were brought to then the victim was robbed by two men and shot by one of them. 

Documents from the District Court of Maryland state that on Dec. 3, 2019, Baltimore Police Department officers were dispatched to the 2400 block of West Baltimore Street in Shipley Hill for a ShotSpotter alert. Upon arrival, they found the victim in the driver’s seat of a vehicle with a gunshot wound to the chest. The victim was transported to Shock Trauma, but despite all efforts, was pronounced deceased. 

As previously reported Smith allegedly managed a prostitution business, which included underage women and Mason was a client.

Court documents reveal that multiple witnesses were located, interviewed and identified including McFadden and his codefendants, Smith, 23, and Martez Frye-Cuff, 24. Officers identified McFadden with Frye-Cuff as his co-conspirator. 

According to Baltimore Witness, Frye-Cuff and Smith, pleaded guilty in March. Frye-Cuff accepted a plea of life, suspending all but 25 years for first-degree murder, firearm use in a felony violent crime, conspiracy to use a firearm in a felony violent crime and carrying a handgun.

Smith accepted a plea of 10 years for being an accessory to first-degree murder after the fact.