The trial of Travis Braxton began before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Paul J. Cucuzella on Oct. 21, as the victim took the stand to describe the night she was shot.
Braxton, 23, along with his 44-year-old father, Larry Braxton, who is being tried separately, are charged with attempted first- and second-degree murder, first-degree assault, and home invasion in connection to an Oct. 13, 2024 shooting that occurred on the 4300 block of Sheldon Avenue.
The woman testified that on the night of the incident, she argued outside with the defendant, his girlfriend, and his grandmother after accusing Braxton of stealing a safe from her home that contained her son’s ashes and ultrasound images. When tensions escalated, she said she struck Braxton’s girlfriend with a brick that accidentally shattered his front door.
According to the victim, Braxton and his father then forced their way into her home at around 7:30 p.m. She heard glass break, a thumping on the door, and saw the defendant’s father in her living room before she was shot six times.
The woman told jurors Braxton was allegedly standing in the entryway and that he didn’t try to stop the shooter before fleeing with his father.
“I remember thinking that I was about to die,” she remarked. The woman has permanent nerve damage in her right leg and foot.
The prosecutor called the incident a “shock and awe” attack, arguing that Braxton and his father “acted together” after a neighbor dispute turned violent. Although Braxton was unarmed, the state claimed he was “just as guilty as the shooter.”
Defense attorney Avrohom Greenfield countered that the confrontation began when the victim threw a brick at Braxton’s girlfriend’s head. He argued that Braxton never agreed to or planned any attack with his father, claiming there was no “meeting of minds.” The defense maintained that Braxton’s only crime was malicious destruction of property.
An officer with the Baltimore Police Department (BPD)testified that she was the first to arrive on scene and found the victim lying on a staircase, bleeding from gunshot wounds, while her ten-year-old daughter cried nearby.
The trial is set to continue with more witness testimony.
