Testimony continued on Nov. 7 before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Lynn Stewart Mays in the trial of 29-year-old Devontaye Richardson, who is accused of taking part in a 2024 Federal Hill shooting that killed 19-year-old Cameran Holt.
Richardson faces multiple charges, including first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, first-degree assault, and several firearm-related offenses. His co-defendants, 28-year-old Daeshaun Tyreke Clark and 21-year-old Alexis Cancel-Soto, were also charged in connection to Holt’s death. Cancel-Soto was convicted in September of first-degree murder and seven other counts.
The lead detective assigned to the case told jurors that around 3:30 a.m. on Oct. 27, 2024, investigators responded to a shooting in a Federal Hill parking lot. Police found multiple shell casings, a damaged vehicle, and several witnesses who refused to cooperate. A parking lot attendant and a friend of the victim’s both gave statements, while the victim’s sister declined to speak with investigators.
Shortly after arriving, police learned that a purple Dodge Challenger suspected of being involved in the shooting had been located at Johns Hopkins Hospital with visible bullet damage. The vehicle was towed and processed for evidence. Its driver, who sustained a non-fatal gunshot wound, was treated at the hospital.
Investigators later collected surveillance footage from cameras surrounding the area, including video showing a Nissan Maxima allegedly registered to Richardson. When the prosecution played the footage in court, jurors saw several people gathered in the lot, one of them holding a firearm wrapped in a red bandana.
The detective testified that a person identified as Richardson was seen speaking with another man before placing a gun in his jacket pocket. A second individual in a white hoodie then took the weapon from Richardson.
In the footage, jurors saw Richardson, Clark, and Cancel-Soto among a group of people apparently moving in and out of the parking lot. The video also showed flashes of gunfire and bullet strikes hitting vehicles near where Holt was later found.
Additional surveillance showed the same group near a food truck on West Hamburg Street and along Hanover Street. In one clip, a bullet struck the side of a building, creating a visible burst of debris. Police used the footage to identify the vehicles involved, including the purple Challenger and the Nissan Maxima linked to Richardson.
Investigators told jurors that another video helped identify Clark and Richardson by their clothing and jewelry, noting Richardson was seen wearing a gold chain and a shirt that read “Forever Chop 400.”
During the investigation, witnesses identified Cancel-Soto in a photo lineup. Police later matched Richardson’s vehicle to the one seen in footage from the scene by a distinctive dent on the car’s side.
Holt was pronounced deceased on Nov. 7, 2024. Warrants were executed on Nov. 21 for Richardson and Clark, leading to their arrests. Police recovered multiple phones, a gold chain marked “4DBG,” and other evidence.
Using digital scanning technology, investigators mapped four distinct groupings of cartridge casings from the scene. They said 36 casings and one bullet fragment were recovered. Casings were color-coded by investigators: red, believed to be fired by Clark; blue and green by Cancel-Soto and Richardson; and orange from the shooter in the purple Challenger. Cancel-Soto later admitted to firing a gun that night.
When arrested, Richardson was taken from his job to the homicide unit, where he signed a Miranda waiver but declined to answer questions. When asked about the “Chop” logo seen on his shirt in the footage, he said the name “didn’t ring a bell.”
During cross-examination, defense attorney Daniel Mooney questioned the lack of physical evidence recovered from Richardson’s home and emphasized that his client was never seen firing a weapon in any of the videos. Mooney pointed out that investigators’ own reports initially listed two other shooters, a man in a gray hoodie and another in a camouflage jacket, as the primary suspects.
Mooney also noted that Richardson spent more than five hours in an interrogation room after his arrest.
Closing statements are scheduled for Nov. 10, followed by jury deliberations.
