On the evening of January 10, 2018, Eric Staton, a male resident of Baltimore, Maryland, was fatally shot outside a Family Dollar store in the 1400 block of East Cold Spring Lane. The incident occurred at approximately 7:30 p.m. as Staton was exiting the store. Responding police officers found him slumped against the wall of the store with multiple gunshot wounds.
Despite life-saving efforts by the first officer on the scene and paramedics, Staton was transported to Johns Hopkins Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 7:54 p.m.
The investigation into the murder of Eric Staton quickly focused on a single eyewitness, Anton Harris, who was with Staton that evening. Harris informed detectives that as Staton was inside the store, he noticed a man hiding in some nearby trees. Harris recognized the man as Donovan Faust, who lived in the area. After a brief conversation with Harris, Faust waited for Staton to emerge from the store. As Staton exited, Faust shot him five times. Harris fled the scene and did not immediately contact the police.
Homicide detectives were able to identify the victim from an Independence Card found in his pocket. The following day, after being notified of his son's death, Staton's father informed police that his son had been with Anton Harris on the night of the murder. Investigators brought Harris in for questioning, and he eventually provided a recorded statement identifying Donovan Faust as the shooter. He later identified Faust in a photographic array.
Based on the eyewitness testimony and surveillance footage from the Family Dollar store that captured the suspect's description, an arrest warrant was issued for Donovan Faust. On January 12, 2018, Faust was apprehended in his neighborhood. A search of his home uncovered clothing that matched what the shooter was wearing in the surveillance video, including a winter coat and a ski mask. On January 24, 2018, a grand jury indicted Faust on charges including first-degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence, and possession of a firearm after a previous conviction of a violent crime. Donovan Faust was subsequently tried and found guilty on all charges except for a first-degree assault charge, which was not submitted to the jury.
