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By
Maya St. Hillaire
- August 19, 2025
Court
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Daily Stories
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Juveniles
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Non-Fatal Shooting
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Shooting
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Suspects
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The attempted murder trial of 17-year-old Devon Rich began on Aug. 19 before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Althea M. Handy, as counsel disputed whether evidence placed Rich at the scene.
Rich is facing 12 counts, including attempted first- and second-degree murder, first-degree assault, conspiracy to commit murder and assault in the first degree, reckless endangerment and other related handgun violations in connection to a non-fatal shooting that occurred on Sept. 1, 2023 at a high school football game on the 1100 block of E. Madison Street.
The victim, a 12-year-old male, suffered a gunshot wound to the back. He was taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital for treatment.
The prosecution emphasized to the jury the importance of the surveillance footage in their opening statements, which they said incriminates Rich in the shooting.
Defense attorney George Harris II said he “could not wait” for the jury to see the video. Harris claimed the video quality does not allow anyone to be accurately identified. Harris also said no witnesses placed Rich at the scene, even though it was at a football game where there were “tons of people around.”
The prosecution’s first witness, a Baltimore Police Department (BPD) officer who was present at the scene, said civilians pointed him in the direction of the shooter on the 1200 block of E. Madison Street after he heard gunshots. He then encountered the victim and stayed with him until paramedics arrived.
Harris asked the officer if he circled back to the civilians to ask what they saw, if he canvassed the area or if he went door-to-door after securing the victim’s safety. The officer said he did not.
The officer said he did not see Rich at the scene, nor did anyone tell him Rich was at the game.The prosecution’s second witness, a crime lab technician, testified that he recovered 14 9mm cartridges from the scene, as well as a mask to the right of the football field. Harris questioned the technician on the forensic analysis performed on the cartridges and the mask. The technician said he was unable to recover prints on the cartridges, and he was unaware if the mask had been processed for DNA.
Harris asked the technician, “So you can’t tell the jury who had the gun, who fired the gun, and you can’t place the gun in Mr. Rich’s hands?”
The technician replied, “That is correct.”
The trial continues.