Homicide Defendant known as ‘Trouble’ Unintentionally Kills Wrong Target

By Massiel Morales [former] - July 15, 2022
Attempted Murder | Daily Stories | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

Opening statements for a 31-year-old murder defendant began July 14 during his retrial.

Anthony Clark Jr previously received a 100-year sentence suspending all but 90 years for the murder of Diandre Barnes in 2017. He was granted a retrial on April 14, 2020.

The defendant legally changed his name to Malik Shakur. He has an ongoing re-trial before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge John S. Nugent, which began with jury selection on July 13. 

“Wrong place, wrong time,” the prosecutor said as he began his opening statements on Wednesday. Urging the jurors to carefully consider the available evidence and to understand that Barnes was the victim of a deliberately planned shot aimed at another victim who is still alive, making it a “wrong place, wrong time” situation for Barnes.

However, the defense implored that Shakur was the “wrong defendant, wrong suspect. Keep your minds sharp,” defense counsel Michael Cooper told the jury during open statements. He urged the jury to pay close attention and avoid being influenced.

An assistant medical examiner and a witness from the crime scene were two of the three witnesses the prosecutor introduced. 

The assistant medical examiner displayed images of the victim, who had been shot in the head and torso, to the jurors. 

The witness to the crime, who identified the defendant, said she knew of the defendant, whose nickname is “Trouble” through an acquaintance of hers and that she had never met him personally, but she was well aware of who he was. 

The defense questioned her inconsistent testimonies regarding the names of individuals related to the case. The witness testified that she was allegedly unaware of her boyfriend’s legal name and only knew him as “Puggy”.

However, during her interview with police, the witness said her boyfriend’s real name and was seen cuddling with him under a blanket at the station.

Cooper accused the witness of lying under oath.

The witness denied that accusation, saying she did not know the real name of her boyfriend. The defense says the witness’ boyfriend is responsible for the murder.

“She is the one with the contradiction,” Cooper said. 

The defense also questioned why it took over a day for the witness to report that there was a dead body in front of her house and why she immediately did not call 911. 

The witness responded that she was scared she was going to be the suspect.

The trial is set to resume July 15.