Kim’s Deli Shooter Found Guilty of Owner’s Murder

By Andrew Michaels , Alyssia Davis [former] - March 3, 2023
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

When the defendant burst into and robbed Kim’s Deli three days before Christmas in 2019, owner Carmen Rodriguez, alongside her children, handed over cash from the register and put her hands in the air. So, why did 42-year-old Martin Brooks, cash in hand, shoot Rodriguez in the head?

A Baltimore City prosecutor raised this question with the jury on Feb. 21 during closing arguments for Brooks’ trial. Six days later, jurors found Brooks guilty of felony first-degree murder, second-degree murder, robbery with a dangerous weapon, and two additional weapons charges.

Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Jennifer Schiffer presided over the trial.

“I guarantee you, on Dec. 22, 2019, when Carmen Rodriguez woke up that morning, she had no idea that day would be her last,” the prosecutor said. The deli’s video footage showed “the defendant backing up from the counter with cash in his hand, but then he shoots and kills her.”

The prosecutor explained that Brooks and his co-defendant, 32-year-old Terrance Peterson, conspired to rob Kim’s Deli. Peterson is currently deemed not competent to stand trial and is scheduled for a hearing in mental health court on April 19.

According to the prosecution’s argument, surveillance footage from outside the deli showed Brooks and Peterson pulling up to 157 N. Kenwood Avenue in a 2017 Honda Accord that was rented by the defendant. Peterson is accused of staking out the deli, while Brooks committed the robbery, she said.

Investigators later analyzed both men’s cell phones, which revealed that they were near the deli at the time of the fatal shooting.

“Who knew your Google account could pinpoint exactly where you are,” the prosecutor said.

During his closing argument, defense attorney Leslie Stein shifted the jury’s focus to a Baltimore Police detective who testified at trial. Stein reminded jurors of the primary detective’s testimony that he spoke with an elderly man who told police he captured the incident on video surveillance. However, this was incorrect, Stein said, as all of the wires connected to the surveillance cameras were pulled.

The detective also testified that he had to wait three days to inspect Brooks’ rental car because the key was in a lockbox.

“That is an insult to your intelligence,” Stein told the jury. “That’s nonsense. They could have gotten that key at any minute.”

No other officers could provide the defense attorney with video footage of the rental car being towed away from the scene nor body camera footage of the car during the search when the alleged murder weapon was found, Stein concluded.