Not Guilty: Defense Motions for Defendant’s Statement to be Suppressed

By Alyssia Davis [former] - July 11, 2022
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Suspects | Victims |

A 38-year-old Baltimore man charged with vehicular manslaughter began trial with a pretrial motion and opening statements on July 11 before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Barry G. Williams. 

Levar Shedrick is charged with manslaughter by boat or automobile and criminally negligent manslaughter by vehicle or vessel for the death of Carnella Gibson in an incident on Nov. 28, 2018. 

Prior to the beginning of the trial, defense attorney Michael Tomko motioned to suppress the defendant’s statement given to the police.  

The prosecutor called the lieutenant to testify about what happened on the day of the incident as well as play a video of the lieutenant talking to the defendant while he was in shock trauma. 

The lieutenant also testified that there could have possibly been a third vehicle involved in the accident that people fled from. He said he is unsure how it plays a part in the accident. 

Judge Williams denied the motion to suppress the defendant’s statement due to the defendant not being in police custody while giving his statement.

“There was a three-car accident, with three different drivers involved in the incident,” said defense counsel Michael Tomko during opening statements. “There were two cars coming southbound on Monroe Street. The case boils down to a car accident.”

A witness testified that, on the day of the accident, he was heading toward Baltimore Street off Monroe Street. He heard a loud boom and looked out his rearview mirror seeing cars in an accident. 

He said that one of the cars involved in the accident was gray. He also testified that he saw someone with a broken leg, adding that he tried helping with getting an older woman out of the car while she bled from her ears. 

The witness testified that he approached the intersection of Baltimore Street and Monroe Street but was unsure of what time during the day. 

There was a ton of traffic on Monroe Street, he said. The witness said he heard a loud boom causing him to turn around to see a gray car hitting a pole after being hit from behind. He saw someone getting out of the gray car and immediately falling. 

There were two cars involved in the accident, one of which was a black Honda Accord that was empty, the witness said.

In addition, the witness testified that he spoke with a police officer dressed in casual clothing, describing him as a white muscular man. No uniformed police officer spoke to the witness that day.

Two to three days after the accident, the witness said he was contacted by police, but he was never asked to go to the station to look at pictures of any cars, nor did the cops go to his house. 

One of the victims involved in the accident testified that he was with his girlfriend and his mother on their way home from Christmas shopping. 

He recalled getting himself and his girlfriend out of the car when he saw his mom bleeding. His girlfriend suffered from broken bones while his mother was being taken to the hospital.

The witness also said his brother went to the hospital to check on their mother, while he stayed at the scene to give the police a statement. After getting to the hospital, he was told that his mother had passed away. 

Shedrick’s trial is set to continue on July 12.

Editor’s note: the defendant was found not guilty on July 12.