Jurors Return Guilty Verdict in Liberty Towers Murder

Gwynn Oak — A Baltimore County jury has handed down a guilty verdict in the murder trial of Kevin Martin, a truck driver from Owings Mills who “ambushed and executed” his sister’s neighbor.

After a five-day trial, jurors found Martin guilty of second-degree murder Friday evening. They had deliberated for most of the afternoon, at one point telling the judge they were hung.

The jury found Martin not guilty of first-degree murder. He was also convicted of a weapons offense.

Sentencing is scheduled for March 13. Martin faces up to 40 years in prison.

Tracey Hankins Jr., 29, died from two gunshot wounds fired at him from a dark area on from of the Liberty Towers high rise apartments on the 6800 block of Liberty Road Aug. 3, 2024.

Prosecutors theorized Martin killed Hankins because of a ”beef“ Martin’s sister had with Hankins, who lived in the same floor as she did.

Almost four months after Hankins’ death, police arrested 32-year-old Martin — someone Hankins had known since childhood — and charged him with first-degree murder.

Throughout the trial, prosecutors showed jurors surveillance videos, cell tower data, bullet casings and fragments, seized gun packaging and accessories, and other evidence to bolster their case.

“The ONLY person who shot Tracey Hankins in the back, the ONLY person who had a motive to do so because he was related to his sister who had a beef with him… the ONLY person who disguised himself, who had a gun that could have fired those bullets is Kevin Martin,”  Assistant State’s Attorney Gavin Patashnick boomed loudly at closings Friday.

Patashnick said Martin “ambushed and executed” Hankins, possibly over a check and car stolen from Martin’s sister.

Defense attorney Isabel Lipman told jurors in closing arguments that the prosecution was grasping at straws trying to prove a weak case. No DNA matching Martin was found at the scene. No murder weapon was ever found. And no firm motive was ever established, she said.