The murder retrial of Donte Brown, 44, continued on Oct 26, before Judge Charles Peters in Baltimore City Circuit Court. He stands accused of murdering Tavon Hutton, 32, on the 400 block of W. Saratoga Street, on March 5, 2021.
Brown is charged with first-degree murder, firearm use in the commission of a violent felony, two counts of firearm possession with a felony conviction, in addition multiple weapons charges for the shooting. He was originally found guilty of all charges except the weapons counts on Jan 31, 2023 and was sentenced to life plus 35 years.
However, after a review by the Appellate Court of Maryland, the conviction was overturned in March 2025 after the court determined that two surveillance recordings were improperly admitted without proper certification.
Baltimore Police Officers (BPD) officers who secured the scene, described video footage from a storefront. It showed the suspect approach the victim, and get into an argument. The situation escalated when the suspect pulled something out, the victim raised his hands in surrender, but was shot multiple times by the suspect who fled. The identity of the suspect could not be clearly identified from this video.
Helicopter surveillance was also shown to the jury from the day of the incident, tracking the suspect as he moved along Liberty Boulevard to a Shell gas station.
A bystander was able to identify the defendant driving a silver Maserati that was allegedly used during the incident,and registered to the suspect’s daughter.
Finally, a police officer specializing in video surveillance retrieval testified about the introduction of the surveillance recordings that were deemed improperly admitted in the first trial by the Appellate Court.
After extensive arguments, the videos were accepted into evidence over defense counsel Stacy Pipkin’s vociferous objections regarding their authentication. She believed the prosecution had not overcome the hurdle raised by the Appellate Court’s opinion regarding the validity of the surveillance footage.
Testimony is expected to continue on Oct 27, with at least three more witnesses to testify.
