BATON ROUGE — A man arrested for a Baton Rouge murder in 2024 is attempting to get a judge to throw out Flock camera evidence being used against him. 

According to arrest records, 21-year-old Tahj Carter was arrested for the murder of 20-year-old Jarvion Johnson, who was found shot multiple times in a car outside his home on Tams Drive on March 17, 2024.

While investigating the murder, officers with the Baton Rouge Police Department obtained home surveillance footage from a nearby residence showing two suspects exiting a dark colored sedan and disappearing around the side of an apartment complex. Shortly after gunshots are heard, the suspects were seen returning to the vehicle before fleeing the scene, according to records. 

Four days after the shooting, Carter was arrested for second-degree murder in relation to the killing of Johnson.

According to an arrest warrant, BRPD used multiple police databases, license plate readers and video surveillance capturing the suspect's vehicle entering the area prior to the murder to tie the suspected vehicle back to Carter. 

The multiple police databases and license plate readers refer to a network of Flock cameras, according to Carter's attorney Elizabeth Warner, who filed a motion on Sept. 30 requesting to quash the indictment as well as have the Flock camera data thrown out along with evidence recovered from the search of two phones and Carter's statements following his arrest, as BRPD did not possess an arrest warrant for Carter until after he was interrogated. 

The state provided Carter with five photographs taken by Flock cameras at different locations on the day of Johnson's death, with each photograph showing the backside of a dark colored sedan along with the license plate number.

Carter's attorney argued that only BRPD and other state and federal law enforcement agencies have access to the Flock camera database, with the five photographs being the only photographs preserved.

"Any other Flock photographs capturing Mr. carter's vehicle on March 17, 2024 were not preserved. Any Flock photographs of other dark colored sedans driving through the District before or after the murder were not preserved," the motion read.

Warner also claimed that Carter was only identified due to police examining Flock cameras, as neighbors' cameras could not clearly identify the suspects or the license plate of the suspected vehicle due to the distance and vantage point of the surveillance cameras. 

"The ability of BRPD to track the movements of motorists across public roadways without any individualized suspicion represents a powerful (and maybe controversial) tool in the hands of law enforcement. Mr. Carter does not have access to anything comparable."

Carter's attorney argued that since BRPD failed to preserve any other Flock camera evidence other than the photographs pertaining to Carter, the information should not be used in trial. 

"The Flock data in this case is the primary, if not only, piece of evidence connecting Tahj Carter to the murder in this case."

Carter's trial is scheduled for Nov. 16