Baltimore County prosecutors have dropped a murder charge against one of two men accused of a 2002 killing in Woodlawn. Assistant State?s Attorney John Cox said there was not enough evidence to proceed against Charles Davis, 21, of Baltimore, one of two men accused of murdering aspiring rapper David Baskin, 18, six years ago.
“It was our determination at this time that was not enough evidence,” Cox said.
Nicholas Weaver, 21, a student from a private college in Long Island, has been indicted in the slaying.
An aspiring lawyer and Eagle Scout, Weaver was pulled from class at Adelphi College on Long Island in February and later charged with the homicide. Baltimore County police in 2002 found Baskin dead on the 2500 block of Elesmere Court due to a gunshot wound.
Detectives conducted several interviews in 2002 but did not glean enough information to charge any suspects. Earlier this year, detectives got a tip and conducted another round of interviews, said Baltimore County police spokesman Cpl. Mike Hill.
Police said the motive for the murder was a feud over a girl who moved out of Baltimore City into the county.
Weaver seemed like an unlikely murder suspect to those who know him: He was an intern at a Baltimore law firm last summer; a clerk in Baltimore City Circuit Court in 2006; a volunteer helping AIDS-infected children; and a Sunday school helper. His father, Jesse Weaver, is a dentist, and his mother, Alice Pinderhughes, is a lawyer.
Former Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke, a family friend, said he was “hoping it was a case of mistaken identity.”
Defense attorney Margaret Mead has said Weaver is “adamant” that he had nothing to do with the crime.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
