On a late afternoon in June, the quiet of a Baltimore neighborhood was shattered by gunfire. It was June 11, 2016, when police were called to the unit block of Shipley Street. There, they found Xavier Antonio Starke lying in the middle of the road. The 38-year-old male had been shot five times, and nine casings that all matched were scattered around the crime scene.
The investigation into the murder of Xavier, who was a resident of Curtis Bay, Maryland, continued for over a year. Witnesses to the broad-daylight killing eventually came forward, and multiple individuals positively identified 34-year-old Davon 'Big Baby' Crowner as the shooter. This led to Crowner's arrest in August of 2017. At the time of the incident, Crowner was prohibited from possessing a firearm due to a 2004 armed robbery conviction.
In December 2019, Davon Crowner was sentenced for his role in Xavier Starke's death. He received a sentence of life in prison, plus an additional 35 years. The charges included murder, using a handgun in a crime of violence, wearing, carrying and transporting a handgun, and being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm. This sentence was to run consecutively with a sentence he was already serving in Baltimore County for accessory to murder.
