Counsel Agree, Victim Fired Gun First in 2022 Park Heights Avenue Shootout

By Andrew Michaels - May 8, 2024
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

“Drive-by shootings. They’re just so easy if you want to kill somebody, so easy just to wipe your hands clean, according to a Baltimore City prosecutor. She said defendant Wesley Lambert was behind the 2022 drive-by shooting of 20-year-old Amare Burruss, who died during a gunfight on the 4400 block of Park Heights Avenue.

The 22-year-old defendant’s jury trial began on May 8 where he faces two counts of first-degree murder as well as single counts of firearm use in a felony or violent crime and having a handgun in a vehicle.

“Events just unfolded very quickly” on Dec. 7, 2022, the prosecutor said in what she described as a “morning of a string of violence.” The jury is expected to see video surveillance of Park Heights Avenue where she said Lambert and a group of people, including the defendant, interacted across the street from each another.

The prosecutor acknowledged that Burruss fired his gun first and was shot after the group got into a vehicle.

“If you fire a gun at somebody, the law says you can actually fire a gun back to defend yourself,” defense attorney Hunter Pruette countered during his opening statement.

Pruette said two unidentified people were talking on the block prior to the shooting. As one of the individuals was walking away, Burruss then fired his 9mm Luger at the person at least 12 times, striking a nearby school bus.

Defense counsel noted that the victim had an extended magazine on his gun with a spare extended magazine, allowing him to have a total of at least 41 rounds. After the shooting, Pruette said, Burruss went down an alleyway and continued walking away from the crime scene.

Pruette explained that detectives with the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) later connected the recovered spent shell casings to a gun belonging to another person, not his client.

“Unanswered questions create doubt,” the defense attorney said.

Lambert’s trial proceeded with testimony before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge John A. Howard on Wednesday morning and is expected to continue on May 9.