Trial Concludes in Drive-By Murder from 2020

By Mackenzie Wright [former] - April 1, 2022
Attempted Murder | Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

As the ongoing trial for homicide defendant Terrell Carter comes to an end, closing arguments were given before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Jennifer B. Schiffer on April 1. 

Carter, 38, is charged with multiple counts of first and second-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, first and second-degree assault, and numerous weapons charges in relation to the fatal shooting of Antoine Crowder that occurred Oct. 10, 2020, on the 4200 block of Erdman Avenue. 

Judge Schiffer sent the jury to deliberate around 3 p.m. on Friday after three days of hearing witness testimony. 

During Friday’s trial, the prosecutor examined the lead detective on the case and showed the entire interrogation video of Carter, which lasted for over an hour. 

The detective testified about the execution of search warrants on the defendant’s mother’s and girlfriend’s houses, where they located a white long sleeve shirt, blue beanie, and a piece of mail addressed to the defendant’s girlfriend in a trash bag on the floor. 

The detective clarified however, that the trash bag was full of other clothes and appeared to be used as a makeshift laundry sack, rather than a bag of garbage that was to be disposed of. 

The jury also heard testimony about video surveillance footage of the defendant which showed him at the bar on the night of the incident and outside getting into a black Hyundai Elantra, which was later identified as a vehicle rented by the mother of his co-defendant, Kevin Hall. 

During closing arguments, the prosecutor began by saying that “all homicides are sad, but this one is particularly sad because they didn’t even know the [victim].” She went on to explain her theory of the case, that the altercation about a stolen cell phone from earlier in the night provoked Carter and Hall to shoot the women involved, but they accidentally shot an innocent bystander. 

The prosecutor said that she believed the shooting was caused by the stolen cellphone, which conflicted with an earlier witness’ testimony that Carter was not the person who stole the phone, nor was he involved in the altercation that took place after it was found. 

Chris Purpura, Carter’s defense attorney, focused on the prosecution’s burden of proof in a criminal case during his closing argument. He reiterated that the prosecutor must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that his client was the person who shot Antoine Crowder, something he said was not done. 

Purpura reminded the jury of a timeline of events following that evening, which was timestamped in the surveillance footage.

He said footage of his client tracked his whereabouts until 1:34 a.m. at a BP gas station after Carter and Hall left the bar. Carter’s phone did not make or receive any calls after this time according to an FBI cell phone analyst that testified on the first day of trial. 

The shooting however, did not occur until 2:16 a.m., well after Carter claims Hall dropped him off at home. Purpura said that this is entirely possible because Carter did not appear on any other camera footage after leaving the gas station, despite the 16 cameras owned by the bar and others from surrounding businesses, which captured the shooting, but not Carter. 

Purpura also said that the prosecutor should have presented the additional video footage alluded to by the lead detective, and that the failure to produce the extra footage meant they had not met their burden of proof, urging the jury to find his client not guilty on all charges. 

The jurors began their deliberations on Friday afternoon.