Defense in 7-Eleven Shooting Urges Jury Not to be Blinded by Videos

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Parties made closing statements before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Jennifer B. Schiffer on June 20 regarding a 7-Eleven fatal shooting on the 6300 block of Eastern Avenue.

Kerin Avlies-Alvarez, 21, was charged with first-degree murder, firearm use in a felony violent crime, possession of a firearm as a minor and having a handgun on his person for an incident that occurred on April 3, 2023, during which 21-year-old Edgar Bonilla-Guerra was murdered.

The prosecution highlighted video evidence from multiple surveillance and body-worn cameras, along with items with recovered DNA, and statements from witnesses during the trial attempting to link Aviles-Alvarez to the crime. The prosecution emphasized DNA evidence on a firearm because in a video Aviles-Alvarez is seen throwing a gun into a trash can during the incident.

One of the witnesses, the defendant’s mother, identified her son in multiple different surveillance videos. In one photo from 7-Eleven surveillance footage, she identified him from a hand tattoo.

James Sweeting III, Aviles-Alvarez’s lawyer, emphasized that none of the video footage showed the actual shooting. He also said the prosecution was hypothesizing because there wasn’t a blood trail near the 7-Eleven, the firearm could have been handled by multiple people and had many bits of DNA on it. Sweeting urged the jury to not be blinded by all of the video evidence and to focus on what was in the videos or not.

The prosecution rebutted saying the DNA from the firearm had the strongest match to Aviles-Alvarez and there was no blood trail in the parking lot because the victim was holding his side and wearing heavy clothing. The prosecution told the jury to use their knowledge of the case and their experiences to find the defendant guilty of all the charges against him.

The jury concluded on June 21 that Aviles-Alvarez was guilty of all counts. A sentencing date has not been scheduled yet.