In the summer of 2021, on the evening of August 5th, 33-year-old Darrin Tyrell Stewart, a male, found himself in the 4300 block of Flowerton Road in Baltimore, Maryland, in a situation that would tragically turn fatal. He was not alone; with him was his 26-year-old cousin, Brian Christopher Palmer. The two men were inside a vehicle when they were both shot.
Responding to a report of a shooting at approximately 8:17 p.m., Southwest District patrol officers discovered the two men
unconscious inside the car, suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. Medical assistance was immediately summoned, and both Stewart and Palmer were transported to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center, but their injuries proved to be fatal. The investigation that followed would reveal that the cousins had been lured to the location under the pretense of a drug deal.
The subsequent joint investigation by Baltimore Police Department Homicide detectives and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives led to the identification of two suspects. In October 2021, authorities announced the arrests of 20-year-old Raekwon Montre Griffin and 22-year-old Montay Daris Shuler. Both men were charged with first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of Stewart and Palmer.
The legal proceedings that followed brought some measure of closure to the victims' families. Raekwon Griffin was sentenced in December 2023 to life in prison plus 25 years, with the first 10 years to be served without the possibility of parole. The following month, in January 2024, Montay Shuler also faced sentencing. He received a total sentence of 70 years, with the first 10 years to be served without parole, after being convicted on two counts of voluntary manslaughter, firearm use in a felony or violent crime, armed robbery, and illegal possession of a firearm. During the sentencing, it was revealed that the motive behind the tragic encounter was a planned robbery of the two cousins.
