With No Gun, Prosecutor of Non-Fatal Shooting Relies on Victim’s Account

By Shiloh Eschbach [former] - October 17, 2023
Court | Daily Stories | Non-Fatal Shooting | Shooting | Suspects |

In an emotional appeal to the jury, the prosecutor of a non-fatal shooting defendant claimed he had, “So little regard for the victim’s life that he was willing to murder him in front of his children.”

Quinton Hillery, a 32-year-old Baltimore resident, is charged with first- and second-degree attempted murder, firearm use in a felony violent crime, first-degree assault, two counts of second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, possession of a firearm with a felony conviction, possession of firearms during a controlled dangerous substance offense, illegal possession of ammunition, having a loaded handgun on his person, having a handgun on his person and discharging a firearm in connection to the August 2022  shooting of the father of some of his girlfriend’s children.

James Sweeting III represented Hillery at the conclusion of his two-day trial on Oct. 17 before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Kendra Y. Ausby.

Sweeting argued the victim’s claims that he was afraid of the defendant weren’t believable. He noted that when the victim testified on Oct. 16, he was so aggressive, that a deputy moved to stand between the defendant and witness.

Sweeting suggested that the victim may have accidentally shot himself and made up a story about getting shot to avoid being prosecuted for discharging a handgun when he was confronted by police.

The victim was the prosecution’s only civilian witness despite the fact that others were present at the time.

During her closing argument, the prosecutor argued that Hillery was aiming to shoot the victim in the head, and only hit the victim’s arm because he had his hands in front of his face, protecting himself. The prosecution quoted the defendant as previously saying, “I’m gonna kill you.”

The prosecution also used video evidence to attempt to prove that the defendant was carrying a gun and in a position where he could have shot the victim. 

Although there was no gun found by investigators, the prosecution told the jury that Hillery shouldn’t be rewarded for being able to hide the gun from the police.

According to the prosecution’s statements, on Aug 5, 2022, there was a dispute between Hillery and his partner, which the victim broke up by throwing Hillery out onto the street. The prosecution claimed that because his ego was damaged, Hillery then went to get his gun. At 12:45 a.m. the 32-year-old victim was shot on the 500 block of West Preston Street.