Man accused of killing rapper not guilty, jury finds

Calvin Fogg released for first time since his arrest in 2020

A Baltimore County jury on Monday acquitted the man accused of the 2020 killing of rapper Dee Dave on all counts, in what defense attorneys describe as “the right move.”

Calvin K. Fogg, 30, had been accused of killing David King Jr., better known as Dee Dave, in what police alleged was a case of mistaken identity — they said Fogg fatally shot King in January 2020 when he was targeting someone else, then went on to shoot his intended target, who survived.

But on Monday, a jury found Fogg not guilty of first-degree, second-degree and attempted murder charges. He was then released from custody for the first time since his arrest in February 2020.

Fogg’s attorneys said he never wavered on his innocence and that Fogg spent the night with his daughter after his release. They added that while they are “ecstatic” at the trial outcome, “damage has been done.”

“For three years, he’s been incarcerated and his life has been on hold. He’ll never get that time back,” said Josh Slone, an assistant public defender. “Even sadder than that is the victim’s family. Mr. King’s family has no answers, and it didn’t have to be this way.”

Slone and his co-counsel, Allison Friedman, also an assistant public defender, said

Tuesday that there were flaws in the state’s case and police investigation. The motive put forward to jurors didn’t make sense, the attorneys said, and “reliable” physical evidence was lacking.

Fogg’s November trial was his second. A first jury trial in Baltimore County ended in a mistrial last December, with 10 jurors voting not guilty and two opposed.

Fogg said in a statement shared by his attorneys that it was a “rude awakening” to be an example of a corrupt system. He called what King’s family is going through a tragedy, and said it also was a tragedy “how young black people are wrongly accused and convicted every day.”

“All we can do is continue to fight for our rights and stand ten toes against a system that’s built to break us,” Fogg said.

Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger told The Baltimore Sun on Tuesday that police and prosecutors “put together the best case that they could.”

“We received a fair trial and, unfortunately, we were not able to prove our case beyond a reasonable doubt,” Shellenberger said.

Surviving family members of King could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

The 29-year-old musical artist was killed in Essex hours after performing in East Baltimore and hours before a flight to Atlanta that his family said could have been his “big break.”

Dozens attended a viewing and vigil for King held after his death and praised his music’s uplifting message. D. Watkins, a friend of King’s and an author and activist, said at the time that Dee Dave’s music appealed to people in Baltimore because it addressed the realities of living in the city.

King’s mother, Linnette Madison, told news station WBAL after Monday’s verdict that she was “hurting because my son was not from that mob. David wanted his music career, and David was about positivity.”

Slone, one of Fogg’s attorneys, questioned how the case got “this far.”

“It’s very concerning and disappointing,” Slone said. “There’s a glimmer of hope: The jury did the right thing. I know that doesn’t help Mr. King’s family.”

Baltimore County Police alleged in charging documents there was a “continuing contentious relationship” between Fogg and the man they said was his intended target.

Slone said the two had spoken to discuss the terms of the man seeing Fogg’s child because he was involved with the child’s mother, but that there were “no issues” left because they’d agreed on a system. Fogg had last seen the alleged target in 2015, Slone said.

Charging documents show Fogg told police he was at his sister’s apartment the night of the shooting, but that he didn’t leave. He also said he didn’t know where the surviving shooting victim lived.

In his statement, Fogg said the case was an example of “how being a concerned black father could easily be taken out of context to make me look like a monster.”

The defense attorneys said they believed Fogg was the sole suspect police investigated. Slone said detectives “ran with” Fogg’s name and ignored contradictory evidence. He also said the state’s case rested on cellphone location information that was inconclusive and “poor quality” surveillance video of a car that police said the shooter used but couldn’t persuasively identify.

“There’s a perception in Baltimore County of ‘we’re better than the city folks.’ ... I mentioned that to the jury. I think that’s why [police] handled the case the way they did,” Slone said. “I think they said, ‘We are not Baltimore City. We must make an arrest.’”

Slone added that if police had done a more thorough job, they may have been able to catch the perpetrator.

Instead, he said: “We have a family recovering from three years of a father missing, a family grieving with no one to answer for the crime against their loved one and a killer on the loose . ... I don’t know how they ever find the person who did this.”

Fogg’s mother, Toya Tindall, said in a statement shared by his attorneys that she was “disgusted” by how her family and King’s family were “victimized with thoughtless and heartless care.” She expressed her condolences to their family.

“[It] sickens me that the family of the deceased has to suffer the loss of their son twice because the life of their loved one meant nothing to those who were responsible to seek justice by simply doing their job,” she said.