Opening statements were presented before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Charles J. Peters on Oct. 23 in the murder retrial of 44-year-old defendant Donte Brown.
Brown is charged with first degree murder and multiple firearm charges for his alleged involvement in shooting Tavon Hutton, 22, on the 400 block of W. Saratoga Street on March 5, 2021.
According to court documents, Hutton was sitting in a wheelchair when two masked individuals approached him from an alley. Moments later, after an argument, the individual alleged to be the defendant brought out a firearm and shot Hutton multiple times. Investigators later connected Brown to the shooting through surveillance footage and evidence involving a silver Maserati reportedly seen near the crime scene.
On Jan. 31, 2023, Brown was found guilty of first-degree murder and three firearm offenses and subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment plus 35 years.
However, the Appellate Court of Maryland overturned his convictions in March 2025 after determining that two surveillance recordings had been improperly admitted as evidence without sufficient authentication. The case was remanded for a new trial.
During opening statements in the current proceeding,, the prosecutor highlighted to the jury that surveillance footage of the scene depicts one of the individuals wearing bright red shoes and wearing a chain. She stresses that said individual is the defendant.
Additionally, she said two individuals entered the Maserati after the shooting which was allegedly registered under the defendant’s girlfriend’s name. Moreover, she added that DNA recovered from the car is said to be a likely match to the defendant.
The defense attorney responded that while “you can see a video of what happened, you are not going to see a video of who did it.”
She added that the red shoes said to have been worn by the defendant on the day of the incident were never recovered from him.
The trial is set to continue on Oct 26.
