‘They Killed My Son, My Friend,’ Victim Says During Murder Trial

By Andrew Michaels - December 1, 2021
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

The man who was sitting next to 26-year-old Sharif Stewart when he was murdered testified on Nov. 30 about the fear he felt the night of the fatal shooting as he slammed his car horn for help and gripped his steering wheel while ducking for cover.

The trial of 20-year-old Rickie Louis Young continued on Tuesday for his alleged involvement in Stewart’s death on Nov. 7, 2020. Young is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of firearm use in a felony violent crime.

During Tuesday’s proceedings, the 37-year-old victim who was sitting in his car next to Stewart that night spoke through tears as he said that Stewart was like a son to him.

Stewart and the other victim were sitting in the parked car outside the latter’s home and smoking marijuana prior to the shooting. The victim testified that Stewart fell asleep in the passenger seat, while he was scrolling through Instagram on his phone in the driver’s seat.

About 30 minutes after parking the car, a group of four men wearing face masks walked passed the driver’s side of the car, which he said felt suspicious considering no business in the area was open. The victim said he continued to watch the men through his side mirror, some of whom he recognized, as they stood shoulder to shoulder in the street.

Sensing urgency, the victim said he rushed to wake up Stewart and was going to get out of the car when he heard gunshots. At that point, he only saw three of the four men in the street behind his car.

“I didn’t think the shots were at us until the bullets hit my radio,” the victim testified, noting that he told Stewart to get down. “I gripped and got underneath the steering and closed my eyes, holding on the horn for my wife or someone to come help. I heard a lot of gunshots.”

Moments later, a man approached the car and opened Stewart’s door.

“I thought maybe this was the man who was going to kill us,” the victim said.

The man told them that he saw what happened from his front porch. Both the victim and the man soon realized Stewart had been shot in his left shoulder as Baltimore Police Department officers arrived at the scene.

The victim confirmed with the prosecution that he initially did not want to speak to the police about what happened but said he chose to testify “because they killed my son, my friend.”

During cross examination, defense attorney Amy Stone questioned the relationship between Stewart and the other victim, who said Stewart kept to himself and would switch between staying with his mother and the victim and his family.

The prosecution also called for the testimony of two Baltimore Police Department detectives and three crime lab technicians during the trial.

One of the detectives said he was a patrol officer assisting with a traffic stop at the time of the incident. When he arrived on scene, the detective said, he saw the vehicle with broken glass and a man, later identified as Stewart, in the passenger seat.

Ten shell casings and one bullet, Stewart’s clothing, and other personal effects were also found at the scene, the crime lab technicians testified.

The prosecution played the detective’s body camera footage from that night for the jury, which showed Stewart groaning in pain and later the officer running after a potential suspect who was never caught.

Tuesday’s portion of the trial concluded with testimony from the detective who questioned Young at police headquarters about two weeks after the shooting. The detective said a search and seizure warrant was issued at Young’s mother’s residence, where police found clothing that matched the defendant’s clothing that night as seen in video surveillance.

However, no firearms were found, the detective said.

Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Barry G. Williams is presiding over the trial, which continued on Dec. 1.