Jury convicts homeless man in fatal beating in Anne Arundel County

On Tuesday, the 23-year-old homeless man who beat him to death will likely not see the streets for a long time.

An Anne Arundel County jury found Allan Clark guilty of first-and second-degree felony murder in commission of a robbery in the death of Evans.

He is facing life in prison at his sentencing, which is scheduled for June 2.

During the weeklong trial, testimony indicated that Clark brutally attacked Evans after finding him in his sleeping spot on April 3 at a homeless camp in the old Ernie Swanson Oldsmobile dealership at 7336 Ritchie Highway.

Assistant State’s Attorney Mark Tyler said the verdict was justified because “the circumstances of the beating in this case were quite severe.”

The two homeless men lived in Glen Burnie, and when Evans was loaned $500 in cash from his brother, Clark had to have it to buy drugs, prosecutors said.

Clark used Evans’ cash to buy cocaine, breakfast at the Honeybee Diner and a cab ride from Glen Burnie to Brooklyn, where he bought more drugs, prosecutors said during closing arguments Monday in Anne Arundel Circuit Court.

Evans’ dead body was found about 6:30 a.m. April 5 on an air conditioning unit partially covered by a blanket, outside the Arundel House of Hope’s Resource and Day Center, a Glen Burnie homeless shelter the men frequented on Crain Highway.

Clark’s friend John Logue testified as the state’s key witness that Clark told him April 3 and again four days later that he beat up “an old guy” and stole his money.

Defense attorneys discredited Logue’s testimony as “the ramblings of a jealous man” because his ex-girlfriend liked Clark.

And the state medical examiner determined Evans’ body had only been dead a few hours when it was found, which contradicts Logue’s testimony that Clark admitted to the killing days earlier.

cpeirce@baltimoreexaminer.com