Jury Deliberates 7-Year-Old Turf War Homicide Case

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Counsel debated DNA, cellphone and journal entry evidence as the drug-related murder trial of Tyrone Gerald White, 42, closed on Aug. 19.

White is charged with first- and second-degree murder, armed robbery, first-degree assault, felony firearm use, and several other firearm violations in connection to the Oct. 2, 2017 murder of 26-year-old Daniel Brinkley on the 1300 block of Myrtle Avenue.

The prosecution said White “executed” Brinkley after the latter encroached on White’s drug sales in the neighborhood. They pointed to surveillance footage and cellphone records placing White near the scene at the time, as well as journal entries he wrote in the weeks leading up to the killing.

On Oct.1, the day before the shooting, White wrote, “It’s on now, and I’m not stopping. I’m going out there tomorrow.”

Body-worn camera footage from police responders captured a witness describing a slim Black man with a “bad eye,” wearing a brown leather jacket, blue jeans and boots leaving the scene on foot. The video also showed Brinkley’s pocket pulled out, and the prosecution suggested he was robbed.

Defense attorney Brandon Taylor argued police rushed to charge White without investigating other suspects, calling it “an insufficient police investigation.” He said bullets found in a recovered bookbag did not match those that killed Brinkley, and claimed DNA found on the jacket was insufficient to prove White wore it the day of the incident.

The prosecution countered that the defense was trying to “distract” the jury from the evidence.

The jury is currently deliberating before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Lynn Stewart Mays, who presided over proceedings.