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Andrew Michaels
- September 6, 2024
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A 27-year-old Baltimore man will be sentenced for first-degree murder and possessing a firearm as a convicted felon on Nov. 18 after a jury found the defendant guilty of fatally shooting Antwan Andrews on Halloween in 2021.
Ameer Gittens was found guilty on Aug. 15 following a lengthy jury trial before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Yolanda A. Tanner. However, the jury found Gittens not guilty of firearm use in a felony or violent crime.
Cell phone and firearm evidence were behind the prosecution’s argument throughout the trial, focusing on Gittens’ Google account that showed him traveling the same route as the victim’s car. The defendant was accused of shooting the 20-year-old man on 3500 block of Leeds Street on Oct. 31, 2021, before taking his car.
James Sweeting III, who represented Gittens at trial, argued that the evidence simply did not stand on its own nor prove his client’s guilt. Whereas an analysis of the defendant’s cell phone placed him in the same area as the victim’s car, Sweeting claimed it was possible another person had access to the account.
Gittens will return before Judge Tanner this November for sentencing.