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By
Erin Kim [former]
- March 11, 2024
Court
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Daily Stories
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Homicides
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Shooting
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Suspects
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On March 11, Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge John A. Howard presided over opening statements in a murder trial.
Preston Feaster, 34, is charged with first-degree murder, firearm use in a felony violent crime, illegal possession of a regulated firearm, having a handgun on his person and possession of a rifle or shotgun with a mental disability for the June 2022 murder of 29-year-old Andrew Smith.
Smith had a past relationship with the defendant’s former partner, who fathered his child and the couple worked together for a trucking company.
The assistant state’s attorney said in her opening statement that Smith was shot in the cab of his truck on the 4200 block of Saint Georges Road upon returning to Baltimore with the defendant’s former partner from a trucking haul.
The assistant state’s attorney told the jury that a license plate reader picked up the defendant’s red pickup truck driving between the scene of the crime and the defendant’s home address, which are six miles apart, and CCTV footage allegedly captured the defendant’s truck returning to his home shortly after the murder.
She also said cell site data demonstrated that the defendant’s phone was located inside the truck at the time. Records from the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) reveal Feaster sold his truck a few days after the incident.
Additionally, the assistant state’s attorney emphasized there were five cartridge casings found at the scene of the crime. During a search of the defendant’s home, Baltimore Police Department (BPD) officers allegedly uncovered a firearm allegedly consistent with the casings. She also told the jury that when the defendant was arrested, he denied owning the red pickup truck and said he wanted to be with his former partner again.
Defense attorney Brandon Mead told jurors that the defendant “is cloaked with innocence.” Mead said that the cell phone was not under Feaster’s name and that none of the footage showed the person driving the truck. He prompted jurors to think about how many times they allowed others to borrow their vehicles, urging the jurors to “use your common sense” and hold the prosecution to the highest burden of proof.