Trial starts for man charged with murder of 19-year-old bystander in Baltimore's Federal Hill
Opening statements got underway Tuesday in the trial for one of three men charged with the death of a woman who was hit by a stray bullet in Baltimore's Federal Hill neighborhood in 2024.
Cameran Holt, of Anne Arundel County, was caught in the crossfire of a shootout on West Hamburg Street on October 27, 2024, while she was out celebrating a family member's gender reveal, her mother told WJZ. She died from her injuries about two weeks later.
Alexis Cancel-Soto is the first to go on trial for her death. Cancel-Soto, as well as Daeshaun Clark and Devontaye Richardson, were charged with first-degree murder.
"It does not bring my daughter back, but I have comfort in knowing that they are not on the street," said Roxanne Holt, Cameran's mother. "I have comfort in knowing that we are one step closer to justice being served for Cameran."
The trial is expected to last for five days.
Bystander killed during Federal Hill shootout
Baltimore Police said Richardson and Clark were arrested on November 21, 2024, and Cancel-Soto was arrested four days later.
The suspects were identified after police reviewed surveillance footage and spoke with witnesses.
Richardson was allegedly arguing with an unidentified man in the parking lot when he and the man both got in their cars, according to police.
Charging documents obtained by WJZ said Richardson and Cancel-Soto fired at the man's car, and then Clark fired his weapon.
The man was hurt in the shooting, while Holt, who was a bystander, was shot and killed, according to charging documents.
"That's the most scary thing about it, that it could happen to anybody, it could have been you, it could have been me," said Federal Hill resident Bob Murphy. "Unfortunately, it was her and not even involved in whatever was going on in the street that night, just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Cmaeran Holt's mother told WJZ that their family is " struggling in the worst way."
"Families should not be going through this," Roxanne Spath added. "We shouldn't have to worry that if our kids go out, it might be the last time we see them."
