Fatal Stabbing Trial Focuses on Video Footage

By Sophia Strocko [former] - July 24, 2024
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | stabbing | Suspects | Victims |

The trial of a 47-year-old man accused of stabbing his cousin to death began on July 24 with counsel delivering opening statements centering on CCTV footage recovered from a rotating camera close to the scene of the crime. 

Alphonso Ward is charged with first-degree murder and possession  of a deadly weapon with intent to injure in connection to the fatal stabbing of Kevin Miller, 41, at Miller’s home on the 1600 block of Ramsay Street on Oct. 13, 2023. 

In front of Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Lynn S. Mays, the prosecution informed the jury during opening statements that a CCTV camera captured Miller and Ward entering Miller’s residence and later recorded Miller lying on the ground outside of the residence, bleeding out, as Ward stood on the steps above him.

According to the prosecution, no other individuals could be seen on the footage entering the front door of the building during the time of the incident, and there was no other way an assailant could enter or exit the residence. 

The prosecution explained to jurors that Ward and Miller were cousins through marriage and that the stabbing occurred while Ward, who then resided in Washington, D.C., was staying with Miller. 

During her opening statement, Ward’s defense attorney, Marci Johnson, countered the prosecution’s claims that the CCTV footage recovered from outside Miller’s residence proved her client’s guilt. The camera, Johnson explained, rotated in a complete circle every minute when not being manually operated, meaning that its lens was not trained on a single spot. Johnson told jurors that as the camera was rotating on the night of Miller’s murder, for the majority of each minute, it was impossible to see who was coming and going from Miller’s residence. 

According to Johnson, the footage did not show how Miller came to be on the ground outside of the residence. However, it did capture Ward going to neighbors’ houses and asking them to call the police. Ward and Miller were very close, Johnson said, and Ward attempted to help his cousin after the stabbing. 

As testimony began, witnesses were called to the stand to attest to both the severity of the stabbing and the state of the crime scene after the incident. An assistant medical examiner showed jury members images of Miller’s six stab wounds. Testimony from Baltimore Police Department members revealed that there was blood throughout the interior of Miller’s residence, and responding officers at the scene found Ward so covered in his cousin’s blood that they believed that he had been injured as well. 

Ward’s trial is expected to continue on July 25.