Opening Statements Heard in August 2021 Homicide Case

By Sara Palmer [former] - April 15, 2024
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects |

Counsel gave opening statements before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Lawerence R. Daniels on April 2 in the case of 53-year-old homicide defendant Shawn Brewton.

Brewton is accused of shooting and killing 41-year-old Santiago Loyal on the 1200 block of Cliftview Avenue on Aug. 11, 2021. He was found guilty of second-degree murder on Nov. 17, 2023, for the murder of 38-year-old William Smith, whom he allegedly killed on the same day 45 minutes after Loyal’s death. 

Brewton is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, firearm use in a felony violent crime and firearm possession with a felony conviction. 

The prosecuting attorney told the jury that Loyal was found executed in the street on the day of the murder after Baltimore Police Department officers responded to the sound of three gunshots. Loyal was shot in the face and chest, and another bullet believed to be from the same weapon was found 45 minutes away where Smith was killed. 

The prosecution told the jury that cell phone evidence would prove that Brewton traveled in a vehicle with his codefendant Michael Corprew from the location where Loyal was killed and then to the location where Smith was killed. 

Brewton’s defense attorney Kenneth Mann countered this by telling the jury that the prosecution failed to mention a possible third person in the car that night known as “Jay.” Mann assured the jury that they would uncover more about this individual during the trial.