A trial continued on Jan. 30 for a Baltimore resident facing a first-degree murder charge, among one other felony and six misdemeanors. The defense attorney present argued that the shooting was necessary for self-defense against the victim.
Riccardo King, 44, is being charged with first-degree murder for fatally shooting Marvin Wooten on the 1900 block of W. Fayette Street on Oct. 27, 2024. During the trial held on Jan. 30, the lead homicide detective of the case, Sharon Diggs, testified about the scene and the details following the homicide. She noted three shell casings recovered, though Wooten’s body was not present when she arrived.
According to Donald Wright, King’s defense attorney, Wooten was acting “crazy” and eyewitnesses saw him “eating out of trashcans.” He questioned Wooten’s mental state at the time of the incident and mentioned cocaine being found during the autopsy. He asked if Wooten’s mental state was important to the investigation, and Diggs said no.
Wright also argued that Wooten was trying to be seen and shot, using a reference to “suicide-by-cop.” He said Shields heard Wooten, who was charged with illegally possessing a firearm in 2009, say “I will kill this bitch” on the night of the shooting.
During the cross examination, Wright questioned Diggs’ assumption on Wooten’s manner of death. Wright stated that a “homicide” does not automatically make it a criminal act.
“What about the autopsy report indicated that it was a criminal act?” Wright asked during the cross-examination.
King’s defense attorney also said there was no evidence of pre-meditated murder and that Wooten was presenting a threat to Shields. He said “the threat was imminent” and any contact Wooten could have had with Shields could have caused a complication or fatality in her pregnancy.
King, who worked for an aerospace engineering company making carbon plane parts, later testified. He said he’d never seen or interacted with Wooten before the night of Oct. 27, 2024. He claimed he never came around the corner physically showing his handgun as he approached Wooten. He said his main priority was to protect his family.
“I kept thinking about Brittany (Shields) and the baby,” he said at the stand. When King described Wooten as getting more aggressive as they got closer to each other, he said he displayed his handgun to Wooten as a warning. The situation further escalated. According to King, Wooten said that King’s not the only one with a gun.
After the shooting, King dismembered and discarded the handgun he used to shoot Wooten.
Diggs said King’s car, a silver Nissan Altima, was identified on Nov. 7, 2024, but no evidence was found inside of the car. Detectives later searched King’s residence on the 5000 block of Craig Ave., where they found a holster, magazine, and ammunition.
