Defendant Lured Victim and, ‘Shot Him Like a Dog,’ Prosecutor Says at Sentencing

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A Baltimore City Circuit Court judge sentenced defendant Sean Braxton-Carter to life plus 20 years incarceration on May 16 for luring 29-year-old Marvin Kosh to his death in 2020.

Braxton-Carter, 35, was convicted of first-degree murder and multiple weapons charges in October 2023 after instructing his co-defendant, Tashonda Childs, to lure Kosh to a vacant park on the 2200 block of West Saratoga Street where he then shot the victim eight times. Childs pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit first-degree murder in 2022 and was later sentenced to 10 years in prison.

“This was an assassination; a dastardly, dastardly and, in my opinion, cowardly offense,” Judge Lawrence R. Daniels said at Braxton-Carter’s sentencing on Thursday.

Despite defense attorney Hunter Pruette’s argument that Childs received “a sweetheart deal” for her testimony at his client’s trial, Judge Daniels acknowledged that Childs did not pull the trigger and, instead, “came forward to atone for her actions.”

The prosecutor described the shooting as a case of revenge, saying Braxton-Carter shot Kosh in retaliation for shooting the defendant in 2014. There was also a shooting between one of the defendant’s friends and one of the victim’s friends in 2016, she said.

Braxton-Carter used Childs “as a puppet,” according to the prosecution, and told her that “if you don’t do as I say, I’ll kill you.” Once Childs and Kosh arrived at the park, Childs ran away and Kosh “was shot like a dog.”

“The time for the defendant’s rehabilitation is over,” the prosecutor said. “He has absolutely no desire to face his consequences.”

Judge Daniels agreed with the prosecution’s sentencing recommendation and imposed a sentence of life with the possibility of parole for first-degree murder and a consecutive 20 years, the first five years without parole, for firearm use in a crime of violence.

“We can’t have lawlessness in the streets,” the judge said, adding that Braxton-Carter’s sentencing will serve as a reminder to the public about the consequences of gun violence.