Defense Suggests Defendant’s Cellmate Killed Prisoner in 2021 Stabbing at a Baltimore Prison

By Andrew Michaels - April 5, 2024
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | stabbing | Suspects | Victims |

Defense counsel in the trial of homicide defendant Khalil Madden suggested it was her client’s cellmate—not Madden—who stabbed Shane Burton to death at a Baltimore prison facility in 2021.

On March 27, Madden’s trial concluded before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Jeannie J. Hong after two days of testimony. The 30-year-old defendant was charged with Burton’s death on Aug. 27, 2021, alongside his co-defendant, 31-year-old Cristino Flores-Perez, who pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 40 years in January.

The incident occurred at the Maryland Reception, Diagnostic and Classification Center (MRDCC) prison facility on the 500 block of East Madison Street.

“You can’t actually see what happens…” Madden’s defense attorney, Staci Pipkin, told jurors during her closing argument. “Mr. Burton’s very much alive when Mr. Madden leaves that cell.”

According to defense counsel, Burton, Madden and Flores-Perez were inside a cell where the victim was repeatedly cut and stabbed. However, video evidence shows Madden leaving the cell without having to step over anyone, she said, referring to the prosecution’s statement that Burton’s body was found by the door to the cell.

Madden also did not know Burton, but there was an ongoing “beef” between the victim and Flores-Perez, Pipkin said.

Video, physical evidence and testimony all point to Madden, the prosecution said earlier in the proceeding.

“Shane Burton went into that cell and Kahlil Madden went in immediately after him,” she said, noting that all three men were in the cell for one minute and 40 seconds. “…Everybody’s vantage point when that door was closed was very limited.”

Once the cell door was shut, other inmates looked into the cell as the stabbing occurred. When the defendant left the cell, the prosecutor said, he never appeared panicked or angry.

“He’s just milling around,” the prosecutor added, saying Madden, who was bleeding from his finger, asked for a towel. “…It’s almost as if he’s proud of what he did.”