Jury Begins Deliberating in Beaumont St. Murder Case

By Tyler Parkes [former] - March 31, 2022
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

The ongoing trial of 30-year-old homicide defendant Donnell Johnson entered jury deliberations on March 30 before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Videtta A. Brown. 

Johnson was originally charged with first-degree murder, use of a firearm in a felony violent crime, possession of a firearm with a felony conviction, illegal possession of a firearm, having a handgun on his person, and having a handgun in a vehicle.

The charges have since been reduced to first-degree murder and use of a firearm in a felony violent crime after a ruling by Judge Brown on Wednesday.

A detective with the Baltimore Police Department was the last witness to testify in the trial. He said he arrived on the scene and assisted gathering evidence and conducting interviews.

During cross-examination, defense counsel Brandon Mead questioned the detective as to why the only witness who claimed to identify Johnson was shown a different photo array than the previous two witnesses interviewed by police.

According to Mead, two witnesses were shown a photo array that included a picture of Johnson from 2018; however, the third witness was shown a photo array that included a photo of the defendant from 2014.

The defense attorney also asked the detective why there was no video evidence from the scene, to which the detective said that no one in the area had a working or actively recording video camera. Physical evidence from the scene was also not processed for DNA because of rain at the time of the incident, he said.

During closing arguments, the prosecutor reminded the jury that on Sept. 10, 2020, there was a meeting that turned into a fight between Johnson and Kenneth Bivens on the 1000 block of Beaumont Street. Johnson allegedly shot Bivens once during the altercation and once more as Bivens began to run away.

Mead concluded his argument by focusing on the inconsistencies in various testimonies such as witness’ descriptions of the alleged shooter and a witness who hesitated to identify Johnson.

The defense also cited a general lack of evidence as no firearm, DNA, video, or vehicle were tied to Johnson.

Jury deliberations began Wednesday afternoon.