Counsel delivered opening statements in the first day of homicide defendant Davonte Hamlett’s jury trial on Feb. 10. Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Jennifer B. Schiffer presided over an emotional hearing.
Hamlett is charged with first-degree murder, attempted first- and second-degree murder, first-degree assault, two counts of firearm use in a felony crime, firearm possession during a felony crime, and having a loaded handgun on his person and in his vehicle. He was charged in connection to the May 5, 2024 murder of Sherman Anderson at a gas station near the Hip Hop Fish & Chicken restaurant on the 3300 block of Reisterstown Road.
Defense attorney Gregory John Fischer claimed the prosecution lacked tangible evidence to implicate his client in the crime.
Anderson’s girlfriend of six months testified that the two of them attended a party before the murder.
At the scene she heard a commotion inside the gas station and an argument with someone over who was first in line at the register. As they left the store, she said they were targeted by gunfire, then she contacted the police.
At the end of her testimony, she broke into tears.
