Retrial Defendant Argues Self-Defense for Reisterstown Road Homicide

By Amna Syed [former] - September 25, 2023
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

On Sept. 25, the jury trial ended for 41-year-old Byron Erin Lewis as attorneys presented closing arguments before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Lawrence R. Daniels. 

According to the Maryland Judiciary website, Lewis is charged with first-degree murder, use of a firearm in a felony violent crime, having a handgun on his person and two counts of firearm possession with a felony conviction in connection to an incident on June 6, 2021. 

On April 17,  Judge Jeffrey M. Geller declared a mistrial because the jury was unable to make a unanimous decision. 

Documents from the District Court of Maryland state that on June 6, 2021, Baltimore Police Department officers were dispatched to Reisterstown Road and Elgin Avenue for reports of a shooting. When they arrived, they found Jenkins on the 2200 block of Reisterstown Road, unresponsive and suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to his torso. Officers sought medical help, but despite all efforts, the victim was pronounced deceased. 

Video evidence allegedly showed Lewis walking across the street to Jenkins, who was selling products on a table, and after approximately five minutes shot him before fleeing in a blue minivan. 

The assistant state’s attorney began her closing argument saying that she had video footage and physical evidence that the defendant shot 32-year-old Sammarh Jenkins six times with no remorse. 

“He testified that he let [Jenkins] have it.” The prosecutor stated, clarifying the defendant’s statement, that the gun went off, and pushed the victim off of him.

The prosecutor said Lewis gave multiple unreliable statements. During his arrest, he told police  that the gun went off once, and then he fired it again in self-defense.

During his previous trial, Lewis stated that the gun went off, he pushed the victim off of him and “let [him] have it.” Finally, during this trial, he testified that the gun was loose in his hand and just kept going off wildly and out of control.

According to the prosecutor, the defendant’s story that he was the victim of abuse was years old and not credible. 

Lewis’ attorney, James Sweeting III, argued that the defendant shot one bullet in self-defense and the other five shots were the result of the gun’s being a semi-automatic pistol.

Video evidence showed one flash, indicating the gun was shot once, and the rest of the bullets automatically came after, according to the defense.

Sweeting also argued that family was very important to Lewis and that his brother had passed away 10 months before the incident which influenced what he told police.

The defense attorney also mentioned that the defendant did martial arts in the past and Lewis used a self-defense technique to stop the victim from getting the gun.

“He thought he was going to be killed, thought he couldn’t flee,” Sweeting stated.

The prosecutor argued that Lewis had every option to escape. Video evidence showed that he walked over to the victim, was in control of the firearm and allegedly shot the victim repeatedly. She stated that this was neither complete self-defense nor partial self-defense.