← Anatomy of Murder
Anatomy of Murder
The Knock (Lamont Baldwin)
00:44:01
A woman knocks on the door, and within minutes, the man she asked for is outside dead. His family wanted answers. Detectives put the pieces together one by one to figure out this complex case.
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- [00:05]
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- [01:30]
Lamont Baldwin's Daughter
They shot my dad. Somebody is shot. Please Harry, please. Ma'.
- [01:37]
Scott Weinberger
Am.
- [01:37]
Lamont Baldwin's Daughter
Is he awake? Is he breathing? No. Oh, I don't know. He's just laying down outside. Please Harry.
- [01:43]
Matthew Ackley
They immediately believed that this was not random, that this was an intentional killing, that Lamont was the victim of someone who wanted him dead.
- [01:53]
Interview Audio (Detective/Interviewer)
When somebody says they want him knocked off, what do you mean? What do you think that to me he wants him dead.
- [02:09]
Scott Weinberger
I'm Scott Weinberger, investigative journalist and former deputy sheriff.
- [02:13]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
I'm Anna Sega Nicolasi, former New York City homicide prosecutor and host of Investigation Discovery's True Conviction.
- [02:21]
Scott Weinberger
And this is Anatomy of Murder. Sometimes complex cases start with something simple. A strange comment, a phone call, a random object left at the scene.
- [02:36]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
One clue leads to another, and soon the whole case unravels, revealing a story more layered and troubling than anyone imagined. That's what happened with today's case, which started with a simple knock at the door.
- [02:49]
Scott Weinberger
It was January 18, 2017. A new year full of promise and possibility had just begun for Lamont Baldwin, a father of four in Henrico County, Virginia.
- [03:01]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
Lamont was upstairs watching TV with his wife. Someone knocked at their front door and the couple's Teenage daughter answered. It was a woman asking for mont, which was Lamont's nickname.
- [03:11]
Matthew Ackley
Lamont came down the stairs and saw the female at the door and said, do I know you?
- [03:17]
Scott Weinberger
That's the voice of Matthew Ackley, a deputy commonwealth attorney in Henrico County, Virginia.
- [03:22]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
Whether or not Lamont knew the woman at the door quickly became irrelevant.
- [03:27]
Matthew Ackley
Lamont's daughter said that she heard the female say, yeah. And right after that, there was a hail of gunfire. Lamont was just outside the door.
- [03:39]
Scott Weinberger
The gunshots stopped as suddenly as they started, and then there was silence. Lamont's wife looked outside and saw her husband, L. A. Lying on the ground, and their daughter then turned to dial 911.
- [03:53]
Lamont Baldwin's Daughter
They shot my dad. Somebody is shot. Please, Harry. Please. Please. Ma'. Am. Is he inside the house or is he outside? My mom is trying to get him. Please hurry, Ma'. Am. Is he awake? Is he breathing? No. Oh, I don't know. He's just laying down outside. Please hurry.
- [04:12]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
The operator tried to get more information about what happened.
- [04:15]
ExxonMobil Narrator
So.
- [04:15]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
So Lamont's daughter passed the phone to her mom.
- [04:18]
Scott Weinberger
We were laying in the bed watching.
- [04:20]
Lamont Baldwin's Daughter
The movie, and no one rung the doorbell. And it was a female. Was she a white female? Black female? What was she wearing? She's a black female. She had raggedy hair. She had on a black coat. Her name is. She said her name was Keisha. She said her name was Keisha. She knew my dad.
- [04:41]
Scott Weinberger
Lamont's wife said she didn't know Akeisha, and as far as she knew, neither did Lamont.
- [04:48]
Lamont Baldwin's Daughter
He didn't know who she was. I heard him ask, who are you and how do you know me? And then all of a sudden, we heard starts. Please hurry.
- [04:56]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
The operator asked if the woman who'd come to the door was the shooter. But neither Lamont's wife or daughter knew.
- [05:02]
Matthew Ackley
As soon as he was being shot, his wife closed the door behind him to try to shield herself and the daughter from the gunshots.
- [05:12]
Scott Weinberger
As the operator continued to ask questions, Lamont's daughter can be heard in the background begging for her dad to be okay. Now, we've chosen not to play that portion of the call. It is disturbing.
- [05:25]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
Within minutes, an ambulance arrived at the home, but it was too late for Lamont.
- [05:31]
Matthew Ackley
He was declared deceased at the scene. He had multiple traumatic gunshot wounds that would have immediately caused incapacitation and death. I don't believe he was even transported to the hospital.
- [05:44]
Scott Weinberger
An anesthesia. As you know, trauma doesn't just occur in a moment. It can embed itself in Someone's memory and can be extremely difficult to escape. In this case, we're not talking about anybody. We're talking about a teenager, which could devastate their sense of security and also potentially plant these haunting images that follow them for the rest of their life.
- [06:07]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
And I think that's actually it. Obviously, reeling from the loss of one's loved one to homicide. Well, I mean, that is pain that no one should have to bear. So you just know how painful that is. But to actually be there, see it, be there at the time that it's happening, it is, as you're saying, exactly that. It's a whole nother level of trauma.
- [06:26]
Scott Weinberger
And so once the first officers on scene cordoned off the area, they notified detectives in the homicide unit, who then in turn reached out to Matthew.
- [06:35]
Matthew Ackley
They'll call me as soon as they get called out and let me know that a homicide has happened and what the initial stage of the investigation shows. And then if there are any legal questions about obtaining warrants or search warrants or anything like that. I remember when I got the call, it was that the victim's daughter had called 911 and essentially said that my father was just shot dead in front of us in the doorway of our house.
- [07:09]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
Getting calls like that in the middle of the night are not uncommon for homicide prosecutors. We worked together with law enforcement from the very beginning as the legal arm of the investigation.
- [07:19]
Scott Weinberger
And as Matthew got the details of what had occurred, the crime scene was still being processed, Witnesses were still being interviewed, which included the Lamont's wife and her daughter.
- [07:29]
Matthew Ackley
They both related the same general story of the daughter answering the door, the person asking for Mont, and Lamont and his wife coming down the stairs and what happened at the door. The daughter and the wife both did not recognize the female, and they could not see who the people were who were shooting. So that was about the limit of the information they had.
- [07:56]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
Investigators first priority was finding the woman who'd come to the house, Whether she was the shooter or had just set the shooting in motion by getting Lamont outside. Investigators didn't yet know, but they knew they needed to find out.
- [08:08]
Scott Weinberger
As part of the detectives initial canvas of the area, they spoke to neighbors, and they quickly learned that one neighbor did have important information. Details which would become the case's first potential lead.
- [08:22]
Matthew Ackley
There was a neighbor who said that they saw about four people running to a dark colored sedan right after the shooting, and the sedan pulled away quickly. No description other than four shadowy figures running to a vehicle.
- [08:40]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
The vague descriptions left open a Lot of possibilities. But one thing was clear. The woman at the door had asked for Lamont by name, so his assailants knew exactly who they were looking for.
- [08:51]
Matthew Ackley
They immediately believed that this was not random, that this was an intentional killing, that Lamont was the victim of someone who wanted him dead.
- [09:02]
Scott Weinberger
And knowing that, investigators began to look closely at Lamont's life and the people that he interacted with.
- [09:09]
Matthew Ackley
The first questions that the investigators would ask the family is, do you know of anybody who has an ongoing beef with Lamont? Is there somebody who would want to hurt him? Has he had any recent disagreements with anyone?
- [09:24]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
Lamont's wife described him as calm and a steady presence for their four children. She said his community ties ran deep and that people often turned to him when there was a conflict that needed resolving.
- [09:35]
Scott Weinberger
But there was more about Lamont Baldwin. He was already known to law enforcement.
- [09:41]
Matthew Ackley
He had had many run ins with the law over the years, primarily in drug context. He was known as a distributor of primarily cocaine in the Henrico area.
- [09:56]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
And it wasn't that surprising that this information was not something Lamont's family really wanted to share.
- [10:02]
Matthew Ackley
There's a hesitancy for family members. Most of the time, they know that their family member is involved in the drug trade. At least the spouse or significant other typically knows that. But they will be hesitant to disclose information that they know about that to law enforcement.
- [10:27]
Scott Weinberger
But any information about a homicide victim could be useful as you begin building a snapshot, of your victim, developing potential theories. And with this new information, the circles he was allegedly running in, it's definitely something they needed to consider as a possible motive for the shooting.
- [10:45]
Matthew Ackley
As we see a lot of times, drug distribution is a dangerous occupation. You are subject to being robbed, subject to home break ins, subject to revenge for disgruntled clients and disgruntled suppliers. And that those disagreements often cannot be addressed through legitimate means, and therefore, they are usually addressed through violence. So that was the initial suspicion of what had happened here.
- [11:16]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
But even if it was narcotics related, there were still multiple possibilities.
- [11:21]
Matthew Ackley
Initially, there's some suspicion that maybe this was a hit for someone thinking that he was cooperating against them. Oftentimes, when people are arrested, and Lamont had been arrested multiple times in the past, there's a suspicion that, well, they might be providing information to the police, and so it would be a way to silence potential cooperators. So that was certainly one of the potential theories of why he was killed.
- [11:51]
Scott Weinberger
While police looked for clues as to motive, physical evidence from the crime scene was also still being Collected, they found.
- [11:59]
Matthew Ackley
Nine, I believe, cartridge cases fired from a semiautomatic pistol in the front yard, right in front of Mr. Baldwin's home.
- [12:09]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
And then there was a cell phone found in the yard.
- [12:12]
Matthew Ackley
Now, it could have been just dropped there randomly by someone else, totally uninvolved. In this case, that was certainly a possibility.
- [12:21]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
Investigators showed the phone to Lamont's wife, who said it was not her husband's.
- [12:25]
Matthew Ackley
He had a phone in the townhouse, which was turned over by his wife and daughter. And there was no indication that he had been outside or that anybody had run right up to him at the time of his shooting. So they were pretty sure that this phone wasn't his.
- [12:44]
Scott Weinberger
Getting into a locked cell phone usually isn't a walk in the park. Depending on the model and the security level. Even with a warrant, detectives could still hit a wall.
- [12:54]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
But investigators here caught a break. This phone was a simple flip phone with no passcode or encryption making all its content accessible.
- [13:03]
Scott Weinberger
They quickly processed and surveyed the phone, and one thing immediately stood out.
- [13:09]
Matthew Ackley
When that cell phone was processed, it had photos on it that appeared to show someone with a large wad of currency and a black pistol handle hanging out of his pocket.
- [13:26]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
And when they looked at the timestamp, it felt even more likely that the phone was a major lead. Because the image of the man with the money and the gun was taken just one night before Lamont was murdered.
- [13:45]
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- [14:16]
Scott Weinberger
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- [15:44]
Matthew Ackley
They can't tell that it matches the cartridge cases, of course, but they can tell that it's a semiautomatic pistol, which would be consistent with what was used in the homicide.
- [15:54]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
There was also location data obtained which signaled where the pictures had been taken. At a hotel right near Lamont's home.
- [16:02]
Matthew Ackley
They were able to determine that that phone had traveled to a best western hotel in Henrico county. And they went to that hotel and were able to determine that the photographs that were on the phone of the person with the wad of money and the gun were taken from a room inside that hotel.
- [16:25]
Scott Weinberger
The cell phone itself gave investigators other important intel, like the digital copy of a bus ticket which had departed only a few days before the murder. The return ticket was the day after Lamont was killed.
- [16:40]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
Suspicious timing, to say the least, especially when you factored in the route, location, round trip from Atlanta, Georgia, to Henrico county.
- [16:48]
Scott Weinberger
That wasn't the only information tying the phone and its likely owner to the Georgia city.
- [16:54]
Matthew Ackley
The investigators found that the phone number and most of the phone numbers in the phone were linked to the Atlanta area code. And so they suspected that the killer or people associated with the killer might be from Atlanta.
- [17:12]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
Investigators in Henrico were familiar with Atlanta in ways beyond it being a wonderful southern city. They were often tasked with narcotics cases that connected Atlanta to their county.
- [17:23]
Scott Weinberger
The clues from the phone supported investigators initial theory that Lamont's murder may very well be connected to the drug trade.
- [17:32]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
They reached out to Atlanta police for assistance, and the local authorities gave them their next break.
- [17:37]
Matthew Ackley
They would have been able to supply the phone number and that photo to Atlanta police. And through Atlanta's police database, they were able to develop the name of Antonio Johnson.
- [17:50]
Scott Weinberger
Johnson had a prior record for firearms possession and was also known to have connections in the drug trade. He went by the nickname racing rampage, which just happened to be the name on the phone.
- [18:03]
Matthew Ackley
That was apparently how he was known in his circle of associates in Atlanta. And the phone was named rampage J's phone. So they were able to pretty well determine that that was certainly Antonio Johnson's.
- [18:19]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
Police now had Johnson connected to the phone found outside Lamont's home. And they had evidence of a round trip from Atlanta to Henrico right before and after the murder.
- [18:30]
Scott Weinberger
There was also location data placing the phone in Henrico county at the very same time Lamont was shot.
- [18:37]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
And so really the question there is, what do all these various pieces make? You know, how much of the puzzle is it? Is it enough for them to bring him in? Like, obviously we talk about these circumstantial pieces and you really just have to look about, like, okay, individually, do they mean much? Probably not. But what about when you take them all together?
- [18:55]
Scott Weinberger
I mean, you're looking at the drug trade and how they operate their business. And obviously cell phones are a key part of how they communicate to each other, whether it's texts or calls or whatever else it may be. But it also helps idea potential suspect. And while it's way too early to see how much it's going to pay off, you know, it's going to be worth spending the time to chase down those leads and really step up the pressure.
- [19:18]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
And I think authorities in Henrico would agree with me when I say that it wasn't the strongest of cases, but that when they put it together, all the pieces, they decided it was to bring Johnson in.
- [19:29]
Matthew Ackley
He was arrested by Atlanta police detectives and was taken to Atlanta homicide headquarters. When he got there, the detectives from Henrico sat down with Antonio and explained his rights and attempted to interview him.
- [19:47]
Scott Weinberger
Investigators already had some evidence, but would it be enough to convince a jury or even if convicted, what about an appeals court? A statement could prove invaluable and also further strengthen their case.
- [20:01]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
They had to be strategic about what they revealed to Johnson and when. It was a calculated exchange that could make all the difference between Johnson coming clean or shutting down altogether.
- [20:12]
Scott Weinberger
So Johnson agreed to speak with detectives. They began with open ended questions, as we often do, but his answers were very vague and he wasn't really giving much. So they determined right at that moment they were going to change tact.
- [20:27]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
They showed Johnson the pictures they had of him in the hotel room posing with money and a gun. And to their surprise, Johnson didn't deny it was him. He even admitted that he had been in Henrico the night before the murder.
- [20:39]
Scott Weinberger
He wouldn't say more than that. So investigators chose to up the ante by revealing that they located crucial evidence connecting him to the murder scene. His cell phone in the yard of Lamont's home.
- [20:51]
Matthew Ackley
He later admitted that he was there when they confronted him. With the fact that they had found his cell phone at the scene, but said, I didn't kill anybody. I wasn't the trigger.
- [21:01]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
Admit what you have to, deny what you can. But at that point, Johnson wouldn't say anything more. So they decided it was time for a break.
- [21:08]
Matthew Ackley
The investigators offered for Mr. Johnson to have a cigarette, and so the Atlanta detectives took him out into a little outside area of the police department to smoke a cigarette.
- [21:23]
Scott Weinberger
One of the detectives from Atlanta, David Quinn, took Johnson outside, and he smoked a cigarette while they both chatted. Detective Quinn's ability to put Johnson at ease would pay dividends.
- [21:36]
Matthew Ackley
They try to teach police how to interview, and there are certainly techniques, but just like in any walk of life, how you relate to people, I think is a skill that is in many ways innate. And he had it.
- [21:52]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
And as they spoke, a recorder was rolling in the detective's pocket.
- [21:56]
Matthew Ackley
Quinn had grown up in Atlanta and in similar circumstances as Mr. Johnson and was able to really develop a good rapport with him.
- [22:06]
Scott Weinberger
What happened next, surprised, even quit. Johnson said that not only was he at Lamont's house during the murder, he was the person who fired the gun.
- [22:16]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
And his story didn't end there. When they returned from the cigarette break, Johnson went on to say that the crime was bigger than just himself. He was merely a hired hitman.
- [22:26]
Matthew Ackley
He did not know Lamont Baldwin personally. He was told that the person's name was Mond, but he was taken to that location by people who did know Lamont.
- [22:38]
Scott Weinberger
According to Johnson, the person who orchestrated the murder was a man named Derek Lawrence. Now, in a moment, you'll hear audio from that part of the interview, but as it happens, the quality isn't great, but we still think it's worth letting you hear it.
- [22:54]
Interview Audio (Detective/Interviewer)
Did Derek tell you to do anything? When did you see Derek? You saw Derek two days before you left. And what did Derek tell you? He wanted him knocked off. He wanted him knocked off. When somebody says they want him knocked off, what do you mean? What do you think that to mean? He wants him dead.
- [23:14]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
Johnson laid out in detail each step that led up to the killing. A few days before, he had met up with Lawrence, who showed him a picture of Lamont and gave him a gun.
- [23:23]
Interview Audio (Detective/Interviewer)
Did he give you anything else while you were there? What kind of gun was it? Glock. It was a Glock, 10 millimeter. Glock. 10 millimeter. Glock. No. Okay. Do you know what kind of rounds were inside? 40.
- [23:39]
Scott Weinberger
Johnson said that he was joined by another man, an acquaintance of Lawrence, a man named Santonio Brown. They traveled from Atlanta to Henrico and stayed at a hotel. And that's where those cell phone pictures were, were taken.
- [23:53]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
And Johnson kept on talking. He went on to say that the next day they drove to Lamont's house. Johnson couldn't provide many details about the woman who'd knocked at the front door, but he did talk about shooting Lamont.
- [24:05]
Interview Audio (Detective/Interviewer)
Where was the girl when you were shooting? She was right beside you, or was she a little bit behind? She was able to find the night. How many times do you think you shot? Well, how many do you think? How many. How many bullets were in the gun? 16.
- [24:24]
Scott Weinberger
Right after the murder, Johnson and Brown fled back to Atlanta. And it didn't take them long to realize just how big of a mistake they'd made.
- [24:34]
Matthew Ackley
When they all got back to Atlanta, they went to Derek Lawrence's house. And everyone realized that Antonio Johnson had dropped his phone at the time same seen. So there was a lot of concern over whether or not police were going to be able to piece this thing together.
- [24:51]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
The group still attempted to cover their tracks, starting with the murder weapon.
- [24:56]
Interview Audio (Detective/Interviewer)
What did you do with the gun when you got back here? He got it from me. He took it from you? Yeah, burned. He burned it. Where did he burn it? Did you see him burn it up? Were you in the house with him when he burned it up?
- [25:13]
Scott Weinberger
The gun that was used was a Glock, and it has parts that can be altered.
- [25:19]
Matthew Ackley
Glock handles, for want of a better word, are made with a kind of a plastic composite, and it can be melted under extreme heat. So they were using a torch in the garage, on the garage floor to try to burn the gun. Once they semi destroyed the gun, they took it apart and threw the parts away in various places.
- [25:43]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
Johnson also told detectives what they were supposed to get paid in return for killing Lamont Baldwin. Johnson and Brown had been promised $4,000, half in cash and half in narcotics.
- [25:55]
Scott Weinberger
When the interview finished, Johnson was processed and taken to jail to await arraignment. The detectives began the tedious work of attempting to to corroborate or to poke holes in a statement.
- [26:06]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
It had revealed a plot that crossed state lines and involved drugs, payouts and multiple participants. So they had their work cut out for them.
- [26:15]
Scott Weinberger
Turning back to digital evidence, they began to look more closely and then discovered messages from Derek Lawrence to Johnson.
- [26:24]
Matthew Ackley
There were messages like I want it to be now or I want it to be tonight. Something like that.
- [26:31]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
They traced the number back to Lawrence, who Johnson had already said orchestrated Lamont's murder. It Turned out that Lawrence was also known to police for his role in the Atlanta narcotics trade.
- [26:42]
Matthew Ackley
There were connections to Derek Lawrence that were able to get the law enforcement assistance in Atlanta to be able to develop a case on Derek Lawrence. I think they already had an investigation open and were aware of Derek Lawrence's activities.
- [26:58]
Scott Weinberger
It was becoming more and more clear that Lamont's murder was somehow connected to narcotics. But there was one major piece missing. A motive. Why did Lawrence want Lamont dead?
- [27:11]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
It was a question they weren't expecting to get from Lawrence, at least not yet. So they turned their focus to the other co conspirator, who Johnson had already named, Santonio Brown.
- [27:21]
Scott Weinberger
And just like Johnson, Brown was also already known to police.
- [27:26]
Matthew Ackley
Investigators keep records of known associates of drug dealers. It can sometimes point in certain directions as to, you know, who was part of Lamont Baldwin's network.
- [27:40]
Scott Weinberger
Police knew that Brown frequently went from Atlanta to Virginia transporting illegal narcotics. And that's where they found his connection to Lamont and to Lawrence.
- [27:51]
Matthew Ackley
His role was to bring the drugs up to Lamont and then bring the money back to Derek Lawrence.
- [27:58]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
Police had enough information to secure a warrant for Brown for being an accessory to Lamont's murder. He was arrested and they hoped he'd agree to be interviewed and talk. He did.
- [28:09]
Matthew Ackley
He was forthcoming. Said I knew you all were looking for me. I was there when this all happened.
- [28:16]
Scott Weinberger
Brown said that he worked for Derek Lawrence and was also supposed to be paid for his role in helping to murder Lamont.
- [28:24]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
Antonio Brown kept talking and soon revealed what investigators had been waiting for. Why Derek Lawrence had wanted Lamont Baldwin dead.
- [28:37]
Matthew Ackley
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Scott Weinberger
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- [29:27]
Scott Weinberger
Police sat down to interview Santonia Brown, who was suspected as being part of the murder of Lamont Baldwin. It didn't take long before he began to talk about the events leading to the crime.
- [29:39]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
Brown said that Lamont was murdered over a debt owed to Derek Lawrence, one that supposedly stemmed from a shipment of cocaine. The debt equaled a large sum of money, $20,000.
- [29:50]
Scott Weinberger
Lamont had told Lawrence that he didn't have the money he owed because it had been stolen from his house in a burglary.
- [29:57]
Matthew Ackley
He knew about the story that Lamont had provided that my house got broken into and this money was stolen. That's why I'm slow in paying you back. And that Derek Lawrence didn't really believe.
- [30:11]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
That that part of Brown's story was corroborated because one month before Lamont was killed, he had reported the burglary to police, and the report was still on file.
- [30:22]
Matthew Ackley
Interestingly, the police did take a B and E call from Lamont Baldwin back on December 2nd of 2016. So about a month and a half before this incident, his house had been broken into. And it's likely that that money had been stolen because Mr. Baldwin had a safe in the home and it was open.
- [30:46]
Scott Weinberger
While Lamont had called police and showed them an open safe, he hadn't reported the large sum of money that had been taken. That isn't exactly surprising if it was obtained from narcotics sales or was to be payment for the same.
- [31:00]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
But it did seem that the theft had taken place. Brown went on to tell police that as part of Lawrence's original plan, Brown was supposed to approach Lamont and ask him for the money he owed Lawrence.
- [31:12]
Matthew Ackley
I think the initial thought was that maybe he would be able to get Lamont to give up the $20,000 and that then Lamont wouldn't have to be killed. But that is some what ended up happening, obviously.
- [31:26]
Scott Weinberger
Instead, Lawrence put together a small team to orchestrate Lamont's murder. Brown told police he was against the plan, but admitted that he did participate.
- [31:36]
Matthew Ackley
So this is what he told police. That was part of my falling out with Derek Lawrence was I didn't think it was right that they were going to kill Lamont, and I didn't want to be a part of that, part of this. We're not sure how much of that is how he honestly felt, but that is what he said.
- [31:56]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
Brown's feelings about the hit may have been because Lamont and Lawrence weren't just business associates. They had been friends.
- [32:04]
Matthew Ackley
They were longtime friends, I believe, childhood friends. So they had known each other for many, many years.
- [32:12]
Scott Weinberger
The new information that Lamont had been killed by a childhood friend added another Layer of depravity to the case.
- [32:20]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
San Antonio Brown was charged with conspiracy to commit murder. He was extradited from atlanta back to henrico county to await trial.
- [32:28]
Scott Weinberger
So investigators now had two statements and phone records implicating Derek Lawrence as the person who ordered and orchestrated Lamont Baldwin's murder.
- [32:39]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
As they worked to build their case against lawrence, Henrico investigators once again turned to their georgia counterparts.
- [32:45]
Matthew Ackley
Parts. So they again asked for assistance from Atlanta. Both atlanta police and atf were willing to assist in the investigation into Derek lawrence. Because of Derek Lawrence's involvement in running this drug organization, they were hopeful that they would be able to seek justice on that end as well.
- [33:08]
Scott Weinberger
Based on the evidence they had already obtained, police were able to secure a warrant to search Lawrence's home.
- [33:15]
Matthew Ackley
Among the things they were looking for Were corroboration of the story about the burning of the gun, Possibly finding the murder weapon there, which ultimately they didn't. But during the course of that search warrant at Derek Lawrence's house, they found drugs and several other guns, including a machine gun type weapon that had a drum magazine.
- [33:40]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
While they didn't find anything directly connecting Lawrence to Lamont's murder, they did find two rifles and hundreds of rounds of ammunition and cocaine.
- [33:49]
Scott Weinberger
Lawrence had prior felony convictions which included robbery, assault, and possessing controlled substances with the intent to distribute. And because of that, he was not allowed to have any weapons.
- [34:02]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
So following the search, Lawrence was arrested and charged with weapon possessions and likely based upon the amount of cocaine recovered and narcotics distribution.
- [34:10]
Scott Weinberger
The three men suspected of being responsible for Lamont Baldwin's murder were now all in custody. Antonio Johnson and Santonia brown for their roles in the murder, and Derrick Lawrence for the items found in his home during the police search.
- [34:25]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
Justice for Lamont Baldwin seemed to be getting closer, but prosecutors now had to think about the trial.
- [34:32]
Scott Weinberger
As a lead prosecutor, one of the first things on Matthew's mind was if Johnson and brown would be tried separately or together.
- [34:41]
Matthew Ackley
If they had both decided to go to trial, we probably would not have been able to try them together because we would have needed to introduce their statements against them. And if you have a joint trial, then there are constitutional issues with trying to introduce one defendant's statement that implicates the other, because obviously they wouldn't then be able to cross examine the statement itself.
- [35:09]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
And, you know, normally, just to put it very plainly for judicial economy and because it's easier on witnesses, prosecutors, defense, everyone, you usually will try defendants together if they're all charged with the same case. However, you know, in certain circumstances, you need separate juries. For example, like here, when you have two statements, because as many of you, most of you probably know, you can't consider statements of a co defendant against the other. Why? Because you can't cross examine a statement. So either you would do a double jury trial, which is how I tried quite a number of cases back in Brooklyn, or you do separate trials, and that's the more common route. And a lot of courts won't even entertain double juries. So then, like here, it'll be two trials if both go that route. It was decided that each defendant would be tried separately. The supposed trigger man, Antonio Johnson, would be tried first. The case against him centered on the admissions he made during the police interview and the phone data.
- [36:03]
Scott Weinberger
It would also be supported by the testimony of his co defendant, now turned cooperator, Santonio Brown. He agreed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of covering up Lamont's murder in exchange for testifying against Johnson.
- [36:18]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
But even with the amount of evidence that had been gathered, the case was not without its challenges.
- [36:23]
Matthew Ackley
We didn't have any eyewitness who was going to say that they watched Antonio Johnson fire the gun. We did have Antonio Johnson's confession, but we knew that at trial he would try to back away from that confession, either by argument or by testimony.
- [36:44]
Scott Weinberger
And that's exactly what the defense did before the trial began.
- [36:48]
Matthew Ackley
They also filed a motion to suppress his confession based on that. The Atlanta detectives essentially were too good at convincing him to talk to them. And the argument was that they were coercive in how they interviewed Mr. Johnson while he was smoking a cigarette.
- [37:09]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
Suppression motions for things like statements, identifications, and evidence collected are pretty standard. Their hearings done usually before the trial. And that's because even though the prosecution has it, they need to show the court that it was legally and appropriately obtained.
- [37:23]
Scott Weinberger
But that wasn't all the defense tried to suppress. They tried to stop the prosecution from introducing one of the most important pieces of evidence in the case, Johnson's cell phone, the one that was recovered outside of Lamont Baldwin's house.
- [37:38]
Matthew Ackley
They attempted to suppress our evidence that we obtained from the phone, alleging that Antonio Johnson had a privacy interest in that phone that was left there inadvertently.
- [37:51]
Scott Weinberger
So digital forensics, like information off of a cell phone, has become a really useful tool, especially in homicide investigation. So if you have the opportunity to get it, you have to make sure you're able to use it. Otherwise the work is useless or even worse, could collapse a prosecution down the road. So do it right. That's the whole point. Before Law enforcement can look through someone's phone, they really need someone's permission or get a proper search warrant. Courts expect a warrant to be backed by specific reasons like linking that phone to the crime.
- [38:26]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
And you know, normally, obviously people have a right to privacy with things that they own and that belong to them or their homes. But, you know, there are certain circumstances that you no longer have the right to that privacy. And that is like here, abandoned property is exactly one like that. You know, you have no right to privacy to things that are abandoned. And remember, police found that cell phone just sitting out in a yard. And Matthew was confident that his argument that the phone was indeed abandoned property would win out in the end.
- [38:55]
Matthew Ackley
I felt that we would have a pretty good argument that even if he still had a privacy interest, then if the police find that item, they've got to have some way to try to determine whose it is so that they could give it back to them. And since there was no password, the phone wasn't really privacy protected anyway.
- [39:16]
Scott Weinberger
The judge ruled that both the confession and a cell phone were legally obtained and could be introduced into evidence at the trial.
- [39:26]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
There was still something else that Matthew had to think about and factor into his case. It had to do with the role narcotics were played into the likely motive for Lamont's murder.
- [39:35]
Scott Weinberger
The jury may not like what they were going to hear about the motive or about Lamont and the defense ties to narcotics trafficking. Matthew needed to make sure that it didn't cloud their judgment and that the jurors kept an open mind.
- [39:49]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
And look, it's a type of thing prosecutors have to think about. I always believed in confronting all angles of my case and being direct with the jury. And here Matthew seemed to think similarly. And clearly his skin, skill and experience served the case well.
- [40:02]
Matthew Ackley
In my career, I've had the good fortune to be trained in prosecuting homicide cases where the victim is not squeaky clean and is not going to be someone who the jury might want to invite over to dinner. Lamont Baldwin was not living the cleanest life, but he deserves justice for act of violence that occurs to him just as anyone does.
- [40:28]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
The trial against Antonio Johnson began the year after Lamont Baldwin's murder. Matthew went into it feeling confident.
- [40:35]
Matthew Ackley
A lot of times when we go to trial, we're at least. I am not always 100% confident that a jury will see it the same way I do, but I remember going into this trial and just being very confident that I don't see any other way to view all of this evidence.
- [40:54]
Scott Weinberger
Matthew laid out the hard fact, facts, the murder, the investigation, the cell phone dumped outside of Lamont's home, and the digital gold mine buried inside that trove of data wasn't just evidence. It was the fire that could ignite the case.
- [41:10]
Matthew Ackley
What struck me about this case was how fortunate we were with the initial crime scene investigation finding that cell phone. I. I don't know if we would have figured this case out without that cell phone.
- [41:23]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
A significant amount of time at the trial was spent on Johnson's statement. Atlanta's Detective Quinn took the stand and explained how he and Johnson quickly developed a comfortable rapport, and that led to his admissions.
- [41:37]
Scott Weinberger
Detective Quinn's straight talk, unfiltered honesty, seemed to resonate with the jurors.
- [41:43]
Matthew Ackley
Detective Quinn said, I went to the University of the streets, and so he was just a fantastic witness who the. The jury loved. And he was able to explain, look, I was able to relate to Mr. Johnson on a personal level in a way that maybe the detectives from Henrico couldn't. He felt that he could confide in me what he had done, and that's what happened in the interview.
- [42:06]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
And there was something else that Matthew was also able to present to the jury that was discussed during Johnson's statement, and that was Johnson's face itself. More specifically, one of his tattoos.
- [42:17]
Scott Weinberger
On the day he was arrested and interviewed, police had noticed a fresh tattoo under Johnson's eye in the shape of a teardrop.
- [42:26]
Matthew Ackley
He had other teardrops around his eyes, which the tattoo and homicide experts will tell you is typically for a completed homicide, kind of a mark that you have killed someone. But there was a fresh tattoo when he was arrested that was still weeping. So he had just gotten that tattoo within weeks of when the police were there.
- [42:53]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
It was something that Johnson hadn't tried to deny during his interview.
- [42:57]
Interview Audio (Detective/Interviewer)
In all honesty, how many people you think you've killed? One, two, three. You got three solid teardrops. When they're filled in, that means they're dead, right? So it looks to me like you got three on your right eye and one on your left eye. So have you killed four people before legit?
- [43:15]
Scott Weinberger
When Lamont's teenage daughter took the stand and described watching her father killed right before her eyes, the emotional weight became impossible to ignore. It cut straight to the heart of what this crime cost.
- [43:29]
Matthew Ackley
Our questions for her were very short. Just, you know, tell us what happened at the front door. And she did a great job.
- [43:38]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
It was a reminder that whatever Lamont's business might have been, he was still a human being. He was a man with a daughter and family who loved him and had lost him to gun violence. Justice and the law is supposed to be the same for us all.
- [43:52]
Matthew Ackley
It brought it on a very human level to make the jury understand that, you know, no matter what Lamont Baldwin was involved in, he didn't deserve this, and his family certainly didn't deserve to be put through this.
- [44:09]
Scott Weinberger
The evidence was strong, and now there was hope that Lamont and his family might finally get justice.
- [44:15]
Matthew Ackley
There were a lot of pieces that came together really well for us in this case, and there was so much evidence that corroborated other parts of the evidence that really made this case a pleasure to put on as a trial.
- [44:31]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
The jury returned their verdict within hours. Antonio Johnson was convicted of first degree murder and use of a firearm.
- [44:39]
Matthew Ackley
At the time in Virginia, we had jury recommended sentences, so at that point, we would be able to put on evidence of Mr. Johnson's prior convictions. And once they received all that information as well, they recommended a life sentence. And that's what the judge ultimately imposed.
- [45:01]
Scott Weinberger
And finally, there was Derek Lawrence. He was tried and convicted for the narcotics and firearms found in his home.
- [45:09]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
He was sentenced to 16 and a half years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
- [45:14]
Matthew Ackley
He was convicted in Atlanta in federal court. I looked him up in the Bureau of Prisons, and his release date is not until 2031. So he did receive a significant sentence, and he is serving that at this time.
- [45:31]
Scott Weinberger
Lawrence was never tried for the murder of Lamont Baldwin. It was a tricky case, but prosecutors and investigators pushed it over the line. Justice served. What won't fade is the fallout. Lamont Baldwin's murder shattered a family of six, leaving scars his children will carry for life.
- [45:50]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
And there was tragic irony that Lamont seemed to have been telling the truth about the money being stolen from his home. But Lawrence still chose to settle their debt with murder.
- [46:01]
Scott Weinberger
While solving this twisted plot was no easy feat and well deserved of recognition, I'd like to also highlight that this is a story about the emptiness a murder leaves behind. Kids and partners relearning ordinary life. A violent loss like this one often turns grief into something that doesn't fade on its own. And children who witness something this horrific can carry real trauma unless they are surrounded with care. So the point of telling Lamont's story isn't just to mark who is accountable. It's to honor who is left and to steer families towards real help so healing doesn't get left behind.
- [46:43]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
At aom, we believe that all cases are worth discussing. All homicide victims worth remembering. As I've said before, no matter what you think of a particular person, hopefully someone out there loves them. They are a wife, a son, a father, brother, or maybe just a friend. The bottom line Human life is precious. Lamont Baldwin had a few family a wife, children, a daughter who will forever remember the night someone came knocking on their door and that her father soon lay outside their home dead. I'm sure his family misses him and I hope they are well and are supported as they now navigate life without him. Tune in next week for another new episode of Anatomy of Murder.
- [47:32]
Scott Weinberger
Anatomy of Murder is an audio Chuck.
- [47:35]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
Original, produced and created by Weinberger Media and Frasetti Media.
- [47:39]
Scott Weinberger
Ashley Flowers is executive producer.
- [47:42]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
This episode was written and produced by Walker Lamond, researched by Kate Cooper, edited by Ali Sierra and Phil Jean Grande. I think Chuck would appro.
- [47:58]
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