Opening statements in a six-year-old murder case were presented on June 8 before Baltimore City Circuit Judge Lawerence Daniels.
Christopher Brown, 25, is charged with first- and second-degree murder, manslaughter, assault, reckless endangerment, several counts of conspiracy, and multiple firearm offenses in connection to the fatal shooting of 31-year-old Cordelle Bruce on Jan. 14, 2020.
Authorities believe Brown and 26-year-old co-defendant Daran Horton shot Bruce multiple times on the 1100 block of E. Belvedere Avenue, following an altercation involving the sale of marijuana. Horton was sentenced in 2023 to 45 years in prison for his involvement in the crime.
The prosecution said Brown and Horton tracked Bruce from the Almeda Shopping Center in a black Volvo. Brown allegedly exited the Volvo, shot at Bruce, then gets back to the Volvo as Horton allegedly drives off.
Nearby witnesses saw a man wearing a blue and grey hoodie running away. Hours after the incident, Brown and Horton allegedly took a picture of themselves with Brown wearing a blue and grey hooding.
Additionally, a phone registered to Brown pinged in the area at the time of the murder.
When he was interviewed by police, “he was unable to keep his story straight,” according to the prosecutor.
Brown’s defense attorney Linda Zeit noted the lack of a weapon, inclusive video footage, no identifiable DNA evidence, or fingerprint evidence as well as eyewitness testimony.
Video footage does show a person identified as Bruce making a marijuana sale earlier that evening, however it is not to someone in a black Volvo, according to Zeit.
Zeit said Brown was not charged until 2022, nearly two years after the murder. Now, the prosecutor is asking a jury to find Brown guilty on the same evidence.
The trial is set to continue throughout the week.
