Co-Defendant’s Credibility at Issue in Homicide Trial

By Amel Kebede [former] - October 23, 2023
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

Much of Sean Braxton-Carter’s murder case hinges on his co-defendant Tashonda Childs.

Sean Braxton-Carter and his defense lawyer Hunter Pruette appeared before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Lawrence R. Daniels for opening statements on Oct. 23. 

Braxton-Carter, 35, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, use of a firearm in a felony violent crime, having a handgun on his person, having a handgun in a vehicle on a public road and possessing a firearm with a felony conviction.

The assistant state’s attorney classified the incident as “allure, ambush and attack.” She stated that Childs played the part of alluring the victim, while Braxton-Carter did the ambush and attack. The assistant state’s attorney told the jury that Childs had already pleaded guilty and implicated Childs. The prosecutor also said that the defendant’s phone placed him in the area where the homicide occurred. 

Pruette’s opening statement attempted to discredit Childs saying she gave three different versions of her story on three separate occasions and that she is not trustworthy.

Further, Pruitt said Investigators couldn’t verify Child’s statements, and she claimed a detective visited her in a mental hospital but he couldn’t remember her.

Pruette also challenged the phone evidence saying there was no subscriber information, and no investigation to determine whose phone it was. 

Documents from the District Court of Maryland state that a Baltimore Police Department officer responded to a ShotSpotter alert on Feb. 2, 2020, on the 2200 block of West Saratoga Street. On arrival, the officer found the  29-year-old victim Marvin Kosh, in a maroon 2019 Kia Optima with multiple gunshot wounds on the torso.

The victim was transported to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he was pronounced dead.

The victim and the defendant were involved in an ongoing dispute. Braxton-Carter allegedly followed Kosh to the scene of the crime. A witness identified Braxton-Carter as the suspected shooter.