Counsel Delivers Closing Arguments in Teen’s Murder Trial

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On July 11, counsel presented closing arguments in an execution-style murder that took the life of a young father.

Parris Harris, 19, is charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, first-degree assault, reckless endangerment, firearm use in a felony violent crime, possession of a firearm as a minor and having a handgun on his person in connection to the murder of 27-year-old Desmond Gardner that took place on the 3400 block of Spelman Road on Jan. 26, 2023.

The prosecution began closing arguments by presenting a video from a snack truck that showed three masked men chasing Gardner before he fell to the ground on the sidewalk. A man in a teal hoodie and gray New Balance sneakers fired multiple shots at Gardner’s head at point-blank range.

The prosecution told the jury that, at first, that single video was the sole lead in the case until a traffic stop on Feb. 1, 2023, when Harris was questioned by the Baltimore County Police Department (BCOPD), leading to the recovery of a firearm that prosecutors argue is the same firearm used to kill Gardner.

Evidence recovered from Harris’s phone showed multiple pictures of him wearing an identical blue hoodie and gray New Balance sneakers. A forensic analysis of the defendant’s phone revealed that at around 2 p.m. on Jan. 26, 2023, two hours after the shooting, the phone pinged cell towers in the vicinity of George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C.

A subpoena of the hospital’s records revealed that, on Jan. 26, 2023, a known friend of Harris was admitted to the hospital with a gunshot wound, corroborating a Baltimore Police Department (BPD) detective’s testimony that one of the three shooters suffered a gunshot wound to the leg.

Defense attorney Roland Harris argued that the evidence presented in the case did nothing to connect his client to the shooting.

Harris said the snack truck video only showed a man in a teal hoodie and gray New Balance sneakers shot Gardner. He continued, arguing that the clothing the shooter and Harris wore are common, and there are hundreds, if not thousands, of guns floating around Baltimore that matched the Harris and the shooter’s gun.

The prosecution ended closing arguments by directing attention back to the victim of the shooting.

Showing a picture of Gardner holding his young daughter, the prosecution urged the jury to “take off the racehorse blinders” and look at all of the evidence together.

Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Timothy J. Doory instructed the jury to begin deliberating on July 11.