In the early morning hours of April 13, 2023, a burst of gunfire shattered the quiet of a West Baltimore street, leaving a 30-year-old Black man, Allante Alexander, dead. Alexander and a female companion were seated in his parked car in the 2000 block of West Lexington Street at approximately 1:15 a.m. when another vehicle, a black car, approached them. Occupants of the approaching car opened fire, striking Alexander multiple times. The woman with him was unharmed in the attack.
Paramedics arrived to find Alexander with apparent gunshot wounds and transported him to a local hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
The investigation into Allante Alexander's death led Baltimore police to identify a suspect, 25-year-old Darius Savoy. Surveillance footage reportedly captured Savoy and another individual getting into a black 2010 Audi Q7, which had been reported stolen two days prior, and traveling to the scene of the shooting. Investigators were able to track the vehicle's movements using a GPS device that had been placed on it several hours before the fatal shooting. Following the incident, police located Savoy's fingerprints on the passenger door of the recovered Audi. Savoy was subsequently arrested and charged with first-degree murder and other related offenses.
Darius Savoy's case proceeded through the court system, with a trial that saw postponements and unexpected turns. During the trial, the prosecution presented the surveillance footage and fingerprint evidence to argue Savoy's involvement in the murder. The defense, however, questioned the thoroughness of the police investigation, pointing out that witnesses in the area and the woman with Alexander at the time of the shooting were not interviewed. They also argued that the presence of Savoy's fingerprints in the car did not prove he was there at the time of the shooting, suggesting he could have been dropped off before the incident. In a surprising development during the trial, Savoy entered a 'nolo contendere' or no contest plea to a count of first-degree murder, allowing him to accept punishment without admitting guilt. Ultimately, a jury acquitted Savoy of the first-degree murder and assault charges. However, the jurors could not reach a verdict on the charges of firearm use in a felony violent crime and conspiracy.
