Judge Allows Prosecution to Give Evidence About ‘1800 Boys’ in Murder Trial

By Erin Kim - April 22, 2024
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects |

During a motions hearing on April 22, Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Althea M. Handy allowed  a prosecutor to present evidence about an a reputed drug trafficking gang during a murder trial. 

Dayvonta Mackey, 29, is charged with 24 counts, including participating in a criminal gang, conspiracy to distribute narcotics, participating in a criminal organization in commission of a crime that resulted in a death, first-degree murder, second-degree murder, use of a firearm during a crime of violence, possession of a firearm with a felony conviction, illegal possession of a firearm for his alleged involvement in the murder of 48-year-old Marquis Carter.   

The prosecutor filed a motion to allow evidence pertaining to the 29-year-old’s involvement in a drug trafficking group, referred to as the “1800 Boys,” that operated on the 1800 block of Wilkens Avenue. Drug charges facing Mackey’s eight codefendants, other alleged members of the 1800 Boys, were severed from the murder case. 

The prosecutor stated that on Nov. 3, 2022, Mackey was in the vicinity of the 1800 Boy’s “stash house” when he fatally shot Carter, ducked into an alley behind the stash and got in a vehicle. 

He said that in a recorded statement, Mackey told law enforcement officers the motive for the murder was a territorial dispute. 

The prosecutor also said there was evidence showing the defendant was a member of the 1800 Boys, a criminal organization, when he was dealing drugs to undercover officers.

The homicide was allegedly solved in two days because the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) and the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) worked together, surveilling the organization for two months prior to the crime, the prosecutor said. 

Three DEA officers were allegedly able to identify Mackey based on his distinctive walk.

According to the prosecution, one of the first phone calls that Mackey made after his arrest was to the alleged leader of the 1800 Boys, to get the witness, who gave video footage of the homicide to law enforcement, to “shut up.” Thus creating a clear link to the crime.

However, defense attorney, Benjamin Charlton, claimed that there was no evidence that showed the 1800 Boys were violent, and that there was no nexus between the organization and the murder. 

The only reason to include evidence about the drug trafficking organization is to prejudice the jury and that those charges had already been severed, with no one else in the organization being charged with homicide.

This trial is expected to last between five to six days, and jury selection is underway.