Assailants Slated as Prosecution Murder Witnesses

By Shiloh Eschbach [former] - December 18, 2023
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

In opening statements before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Althea M. Handy on Dec. 14, the prosecution stated two witnesses who were prosecuted for assaulting Joshua Camara will testify against the man accused of his murder.

Draquan Smith, 22, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of firearm use in a felony violent crime in connection to 20-year-old Camara’s death.

The prosecution stated six men were involved in the incident that occurred on March 27, 2022, on the 2600 block of Northshire Drive. Three men, including the prosecution’s witnesses, beat up Camara and then drove past the defendant and two other men, dressed in black. They stopped and told the defendant where Camara was, then drove away.

The prosecution cited video evidence which showed Smith’s group split up. One man went into the alley where Camara was and there were audible shots. Then all three ran away. 

The prosecution’s witnesses identified Smith as the person the witnesses talked to using a photo array. 

According to the prosecutor, “Ever since being questioned by police, they have accepted responsibility.”

However, defense attorney Latoya Francis-Williams alongside her co-counsel, Sheridan Yeary, argued that the prosecution’s witnesses were not credible.

Francis-Williams stated everyone agreed the witnesses did something wrong. She argued they made up a “tall tale” because “they were facing a lot of time.”

Francis-Williams added the prosecution had little evidence against Smith. There were no fingerprints, no firearm evidence, no DNA and no photographic evidence to link Smith to the crime.

Judge Jennifer B. Schiffer previously dismissed this case, but the prosecution refiled the murder and weapons charges against the defendant.