Acquitted: Detectives Testify on 2nd Day of Murder Trial

By Zoe Foringer-Laing [former] - August 2, 2021
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

Editor’s note: The defendant was acquitted of charges in this case.

Two detectives testified on homicide defendant Tyrek Hodge’s second day of trial July 30 at Baltimore City Circuit Court.

Judge Barry G. Williams presided over the trial on Friday, along with 12 jurors who were selected on July 28.

Hodge, 20, is charged with allegedly shooting his friend, 19-year-old Evan Brewington, six times and setting fire to a car to destroy evidence of the murder. The previous day of trial revealed that two other friends allegedly witnessed both the killing and arson.

One detective, who was called to testify, was the primary investigator for the case. His description of the crime scenes corroborated statements from responding officers who testified during the first day of trial on July 29. He also mentioned that the blood and shattered glass found at the scene indicated that Brewington was likely shot while sitting in the back of the car on the passenger side.

The detective’s testimony was accompanied by several pieces of evidence.

Surveillance footage from the location of the car fire showed that the vehicle was set on fire about an hour and a half after the shooting. The location of the fire was confirmed to be just shy of half of a mile away from the scene of the shooting. 

The detective went on to explain the evidence that he collected from one of the friends who allegedly witnessed the shooting. The detective told the jury that, on Sept. 9, 2019, one of Hodge’s friends was arrested for driving a stolen vehicle. A search warrant was filed for the witness’ cell phone, and the detective was able to download the phone’s content.

Among the downloaded data, the detective found a video taken on Aug. 17, hours before the shooting. The video showed the two friends of Hodge and Brewington in the driver and passenger seat of the car that was later burned. 

Another search warrant for the friend, who was arrested, allowed the detective to search his house, where he found two car keys that matched the model of car that was burned. The detective told the jury that the keys fit a lock cylinder in the car door that survived the car fire. 

The other detective was the independent administrator of the photo arrays that were shown to one of Hodge and Brewington’s friends.

Under Maryland law, photo arrays must be conducted by an independent administrator or a detective who does not know the identity of the suspect. The detective was not involved with the case, except to conduct the photo array. 

He told the jury that the friend correctly identified Hodge as the suspect in an array of six photos. He also mentioned that the friend was visibly nervous and did not want to be involved with the investigations.

However, questioning from defense attorney Adam Frank revealed that the identification of Hodge in the photo array took place two and a half months after the crime happened.

After both detectives’ testimony concluded, Judge Williams said the evidentiary part of the trial was complete. Frank then filed a motion to dismiss the charges of second-degree arson and conspiracy to commit second-degree arson, citing insufficient evidence. 

Judge Williams ruled to dismiss those charges but said there was still sufficient evidence connecting Hodge to the homicide. The charges of first-degree murder, firearm use in a violent crime, and three other weapons charges remain in place. 

The trial is set to continue on Aug. 2 for further arguments.