Homicide Defendant Claims Local Rapper Threatened to Kill His Children

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Lies upon lies were told by homicide defendant Earl Lee during an eight-hour police interrogation, a Baltimore City prosecutor told jurors on June 26. Among them was Lee’s claim that the victim—a local rapper—threatened to kill the defendant’s children.

The 28-year-old Baltimore resident is charged with the murder of David Boykins, who was gunned down on the 2000 block of Cliftwood Avenue on Oct. 6, 2023. Lee is charged with first-degree murder, firearm use in a felony or violent crime and firearm possession with a felony conviction.

On Wednesday, a prosecutor told jurors that Boykins, formerly known as rapper President Davo, was sitting on a porch with a woman when Lee walked up to him and shot Boykins 10 times just after 6 p.m.

“It was an ambush, plain and simple,” the prosecutor said.

In addition to finding 10 cartridge casings at the scene, detectives with the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) also found city surveillance footage of a white SUV near the crime scene before and after the shooting. Police identified the vehicle as a white Nissan Pathfinder, which was allegedly registered to the defendant.

The prosecutor said Lee had an appointment with “a government agency” on a later date when he was arrested and brought in for questioning. Lee told “lie after life after lie” during his interview with police, including making up names of people who were in the vehicle with him at the time of the shooting.

Lee also told police Boykins had threatened to kill his children and there was a $50,000 bounty for the defendant, the prosecutor argued. However, long-time defense attorney Paul Kramer reiterated Lee’s statement to the jury, adding that Lee told police he was at work when Boykins was killed.

“Justice is not convicting the wrong person,” Kramer said, asking jurors to question the prosecutor’s alleged evidence over the course of the trial.

Following opening statements, a witness was called to testify, with the trial scheduled to continued on June 27 before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Kendra Y. Ausby.