Jurors Watch Defendant’s Interrogation, Confession to Killing Rapper

By Tobias Kaufmann - June 28, 2024
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects |

On June 27, jurors listened to hours of a recorded interrogation where a defendant admitted to shooting and killing a Baltimore rapper.

Earl Lee, 28, is charged with first-degree murder, firearm use in a felony or violent crime and firearm possession with a felony conviction for his alleged involvement in the Oct. 6, 2023 shooting of 28-year-old David Boykin, known as President Davo, that took place outside of Boykin’s house on the 2000 block of Cliftwood Avenue.

For much of the day, jurors watched the interview of Lee, which took place on the day of his arrest, and showed two Baltimore Police Department (BPD) detectives working through hours of Lee’s fabricated stories.

The video shows the detectives urging Lee to tell the truth and reassuring him that he is not a “stone-cold killer,” but just a man who made a mistake. Lee eventually said he committed the crime. 

He silently wrote on a piece of paper that the reason for the attack was because Boykin had threatened his children and had put a $50,000 bounty on him. After the confession, a detective told Lee, “I can tell this has been eating at your soul.” 

When asked about how he felt after killing Boykin, Lee admitted that he felt remorse because Boykin was a father, but he had to put his family before Boykin’s family. Detectives also asked Lee how he knew Boykin would be on his porch. “I did my homework,” he said, suggesting that the murder was premeditated.

Testimony is expected to continue on June 28 in front of Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Kendra Y. Ausby.