‘This Was An Execution,’ Prosecutor Tells Jury in Three-Defendant Murder Trial

By Andrew Michaels - December 7, 2022
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Juveniles | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

Ten loud claps, one right after the other, echoed in the Mitchell Courthouse in Baltimore City Circuit Court on Dec. 7 as a prosecutor mimicked the ten gunshots that killed 33-year-old Antonio Lamont Jackson in 2019.

Retaliation was behind this murder, she explained to a jury, and co-defendants Darian Adams, 27, Raquan Baylor, 26, and Kamar Robinson, 21, were to blame.

After a two-day jury selection, the trio’s trial kicked off with opening statements from the assistant state’s attorney and the defendants’ respective defense counsel, all of whom said they will argue whether a separate fatal shooting about ten hours before Jackson’s murder had any connection to this case.

The prosecution alleged that Adams was friends with the victim of the first shooting and was seen at that crime scene wearing the same clothes that he was later seen wearing in surveillance footage from the Jackson case.

“[Those ten gunshots] were by design,” the prosecutor exclaimed. “This was an execution. The intent was to kill [Jackson].”

During her opening statements, the prosecutor told the jury that Adams, Baylor, and Robinson met up with each other at the Northeast Market on the 2100 block of East Monument Street. Baylor and Robinson got back into one vehicle and were followed by Adams in another vehicle as they went to Adams’ girlfriend’s house to drop off food. The three co-defendants then took one vehicle to the 800 block of North Bradford Street and pulled up to the mouth of an alley.

The prosecutor painted a picture for the jury of Adams cinching his hoodie and Robinson putting on a mask after getting out of the vehicle.

“They run down the alley and open fire,” she said, adding that the co-defendants left the scene to go to a friend’s house on North Chilton Street “where they celebrate.”

“You are going to be able to follow that whole journey” through surveillance footage, the prosecution noted. “Justice is a long time coming, and I know that time is now.”

Defense counsels all agreed that there is no evidence to show the two homicides are related but that this was “a fantastical theory” from the state, said Baylor’s attorney, Michael Tomko.

“There will be puzzle pieces missing and preventing a clear picture,” Tomko said. “In the end, I’m confident that each of you will not be able to put that puzzle together.”

Defense attorney Brandon Mead, who represents Adams, used the analogy that pieces of information are like rungs on a ladder, the first rung being the probable cause for arrest and the last rung being beyond a reasonable doubt.

“Each piece of information either takes you up the ladder or down the ladder,” Mead said, noting that the juror would not reach the top rung by the end of the trial.

Brad MacFee, Robinson’s defense attorney, concluded that the lack of evidence would only lead the jurors to guesswork and assumptions.

Testimony began late Wednesday morning before visiting Judge Roland Silkworth and is expected to continue on Dec. 8.