The Baltimore City State Attorney’s Office will retry a murder case that was featured in our January investigation, co-published with BuzzFeed News, about the frequent failure to solve shootings.
Devon Little, a 28-year-old man from West Baltimore, was the victim in two unsolved shootings, and is currently serving life in prison for the September 2016 murder of Levon Stokes. He maintains his innocence, claiming the victim’s family framed him and that the police and prosecutors concealed problems with the investigation.
In February, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals reversed Little’s conviction on technical grounds, ruling that the trial judge had erred in allowing a detective to explain away an inconsistency in witness testimony.
The Office of the State’s Attorney for Baltimore City had the option to appeal the reversal, retry the case, or drop it and let Little go. Melba Saunders, a spokesperson for the office, confirmed to The Trace that the state will move forward with a new trial. She declined to comment further because the case is an “an open and pending matter.”
