‘This Case Lacks Evidence,’ Says Defense Counsel in Case of Son Charged in the Murder of His Mother

By Alyssia Davis [former] - November 17, 2022
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

A Baltimore woman charged with first-degree murder had her trial began on Nov. 17 with opening statements before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Gregory Sampson. 

Toni Arnold, 32, is charged with first-degree murder, use of a firearm in a violent crime, having a handgun on her person, and possession of a firearm with a felony conviction in connection to the homicide of Arnold’s mother 48-year-old Sherry Birmingham on Aug. 16, 2021.

According to a news release, at 10:00 p.m. on the night of the incident, officers were called to the 2400 block of Washington Boulevard for reports of shots being fired. Once they arrived, they found Birmingham suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. She later died at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center.

“The case before you is a simple but serious case,” said the prosecutor in his opening statements. He told jurors they would hear testimony from witnesses that would say they heard voices and the defendant trying to gain access to her mother’s home. They will then say they heard gunshots, said the prosecutor. 

Arnold’s defense counsel Natalie Finegar said the case lacked evidence. “This case is more about the evidence that could’ve been, should’ve been, or would’ve been had the job of the investigators been done properly, but it wasn’t.”

She said there is no evidence that placed the defendant outside the home before the shooting. 

Any evidence, in this case, will point in another direction, Finegars informed the jury as she asked that they find her client not guilty.

Arnold’s trial is set to continue Nov. 18.