Trial Begins for Homicide Co-Defendant in West Belvedere Avenue Murder  

By Kaliah Green [former] - November 15, 2023
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

On Nov. 14, Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Dana M. Middleton presided in Shawn Brewton‘s murder trial.

Brewton, 53, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, firearm use in a felony violent crime and possession of a firearm with a felony conviction. 

Kenneth Man represented Brewton on Tuesday in Baltimore City Circuit Court. 

The prosecution opened by characterizing the case, “As the victim was cooking for his son and other children in the house, as soon as the defendant walked into the home … three shots.”

The prosecution told the court, “Choices and consequences. That’s what brings us together today.”

The prosecution then told the court that they will be viewing ballistic evidence, cell phone records from the defendant and codefendant, scientific evaluations of evidence and evidence from a previous case linked to this one. 

In the defense’s opening statement, Man  emphasized “the most important evidence” in the trial will be witness testimony.  

According to Baltimore Witness, on Aug. 11, 2021, officers from the Baltimore Police Department responded to a shooting on the 3500 block of West Belvedere Avenue, where they found the victim, 38-year-old William Smith, lying in the first-floor entryway of the residence, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was later pronounced dead. 

There was an ongoing domestic dispute between Smith and his ex-girlfriend, resulting in a physical altercation between the two the night before the homicide. In response, Brewton and codefendant Michael Corprew, 48, allegedly shot and killed Smith at his residence and fled.

Brewton and Corprew were identified through photographs, video surveillance footage and cell phone tracking data showing the two had been together prior to the murder. Last month, Corprew declined the prosecution’s offer of a lower sentence if he pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against Brewton.