Retrial Set for Homicide Defendant Convicted in 2015 Fatal Shooting

By Andrew Michaels - May 6, 2022
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

A retrial was set for a 32-year-old Baltimore man accused of fatally shooting Earl Burton nearly seven years ago on Halloween after the defendant was granted an appeal in 2020.

According to the Office of the State’s Attorney for Baltimore City, the shooting occurred on Halloween in 2015 when officers with the Baltimore Police Department were called to the 1100 block of Laurens Street for a reported shooting and found Burton, 31, on the sidewalk with a gunshot wound to his head.

Burton died three days later at a hospital.

Anthony Burris was later arrested and charged with firearm use during a felony violent crime and second-degree murder.

During reception court on May 5, the prosecution and defense attorney Michael Lawlor agreed on a five-day retrial beginning Nov. 7. The prosecution noted Burris was previously deemed incompetent to stand trial in January 2021—a ruling that was reversed in December 2021. 

The police investigation revealed that Burris, Burton, and two other people were driving around the city before meeting up with another group on Laurens Street, previously reported by the State’s Attorney’s Office. Upon arrival, Burton was getting out of the vehicle when Burris allegedly shot him in the head.

Burris was originally sentenced to 30 years in prison, for second-degree murder; a consecutive 20 years in prison, suspending all but 5 years in prison, for firearm use during a felony violent crime, and four years of supervised probation upon release after a jury found him guilty in October 2017.

Following a successful appeal in the Court of Special Appeals, the defendant’s case was remanded for a new trial in July 2020.