West Patapsco Street Murder Trial Begins

By Racquel Bazos - March 5, 2024
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

On March 4, Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Alan C. Lazerow presided over opening statements in a murder trial stemming from an alleged armed robbery.

Tayvon Miller, 37, is charged with first-degree murder, armed robbery, firearm use in a felony violent crime and firearm possession with a felony conviction for the June 2023 murder of 38-year-old Frissell Townes, Jr. 

The prosecutor said in his opening statement that Townes died of a single gunshot wound on the 2600 block of West Patapsco Avenue while he was helping a woman deliver for Doordash. He told the jury cell phone records will show Miller, who was friends with the woman, had contact with her before and after the shooting. 

While incarcerated, from July 2023 to December of that year, Miller continued to have contact with the woman, not knowing she allegedly had been cooperating with Baltimore Police Department (BPD) investigators. 

Defense attorney James Sweeting III told jurors, “All the evidence … is going to come from the witness stand.” He admitted his client knew the woman, but said no one will testify to being an eyewitness to the shooting — not even her. 

Documents from the District Court of Maryland state that witnesses told allegedly BPD investigators Miller removed Townes’ backpack and threw it into his car after the shooting, but the contents of the bag are unknown. 

The trial is expected to last another three days.