Even if Natasha Fowlkes never swung the bat that struck Gregory Simmons or thrust the knife that left him paralyzed, prosecutors said Thursday, she was still culpable in the Thanksgiving weekend melee in Edgewood.
In his closing arguments, Assistant State?s Attorney Joel Muneses said Fowlkes, 32, kicked, punched and beat Greg Simmons with a metal bat. If the jury didn?t find the evidence supported that, he cited Maryland case law that said she was still guilty as an accessory because testimony placed her at the scene, fighting alongside as many as 50 others.
“Not only was she personally involved, she also helped others as they harmed Mr. Simmons,” Muneses said. “She continued to kick him, beat him, and prevent his escape until her own daughter came up behind him and stabbed him in the back.”
Defense attorney Timothy Streett cited testimony from Fowlkes? mother, Bennie Clayburne, that Fowlkes stopped at the scene on her way to her sister?s house just in time to see the brawl begin, and that no physical evidence ever put a bat in her hands.
“The state is trying to paint her in with the entire group,” Streett said. “You can?t paint with a brush that wide. You can?t say this whole gang was there on Natasha?s side.”
Clayburne, the defense?s only witness, said Simmons took a bat and waded into the crowd gathered to confront his daughter over a man she was seeing, then had it taken from him and used against him.
Prosecutors? witnesses ?including Simmons? wife, two daughters and a family friend ? said he was on the porch shepherding them back inside when he was attacked with a piece of wood door molding by Otis Huff, Clayburne?s grandson.
Muneses said seven of nine people charged in the fight were related to Clayburne, including her other daughter Celestine Huff; granddaughter Shamere Germany (who is awaiting trial on charges of wielding the knife); and granddaughters Tommyrre and Layelle Reid, who were acquitted last month of assault and attempted murder charges.
