The trial of Timothy Knott is now in the jury’s hands after closing arguments wrapped last Friday, with the panel tasked with deciding whether he shot and killed 42-year-old Anthony Pearson during an April 29, 2024, shooting on Garrison Boulevard. Prosecutors leaned heavily on surveillance footage and cellphone location data, while the defense countered that investigators skipped basic forensic work and mishandled key evidence. At the heart of the fight was a red minivan that prosecutors say rolled up, delivered gunfire, and rolled out.
Video, phones, and the scene
Surveillance video allegedly shows a man parking a red 2003 Chrysler minivan, walking toward the 4700 block of Garrison Boulevard, firing a gun, then getting back in the vehicle and driving away. Prosecutors also pointed to cellphone pings that they say placed a device linked to Knott in the area around the time of the shooting. According to Baltimore Witness, investigators pulled the footage and paired it with phone records as the backbone of their case, while a media advisory from the Baltimore Police Department confirms officers were called to the 4700 block that morning.
Defense questions forensic steps
On cross-examination, defense attorney Warren Brown pressed homicide detectives on why the red minivan was never tested for gunpowder residue and why other potential leads were not chased down, arguing that investigators moved too quickly to pin the killing on Knott. Knott initially told detectives the van had been sitting at a repair shop, then later said he picked it up several hours before the shooting. In his recorded interview, he insisted he would not risk his future, saying he had “full custody of my son” and would not “throw my life away for no gun sh*t.” The defense also emphasized Knott’s claim that pins in his leg limit his mobility, suggesting the physical realities did not line up with the prosecution’s narrative of a shooter striding up and firing, according to Baltimore Witness.
What’s at stake
Knott faces charges that include first-degree murder, assault, and multiple firearms offenses in Pearson’s death. Prosecutors told jurors their case lives or dies on the surveillance footage, the taped interview, and the cellphone data. Under Maryland law, a person convicted of first-degree murder may face life imprisonment and, in limited circumstances, life without parole or the death penalty, as reflected in FindLaw.
