A Baltimore City jury convicted Montese L. Thompson, 23, today of second-degree murder following three hours of deliberation and one day of testimony. Judge Alfred Nance set sentencing for May 16, 2006 at which time Thompson could receive a maximum of 30 years in prison. On June 28, 2005 Thompson beat Verna Brown, 35, to death in the 1800 block of North Montford Avenue. Thompson assaulted Brown in a house and later followed her outside and beat Brown in the face with a shovel. Brown was transported to Johns Hopkins Hospital where she later succumbed to her injuries on July 3, 2005.
At a hearing today, Amanda Johnson, 23, of the 700 block of Berry Street, pled guilty to a single count of witness intimidation. You'll recall the Hampden lass is one of the first people to be charged under the new, tougher witness intimidation laws. Under terms of the plea agreement, announced in open court and objected to by the State, Judge Glynn will sentence her to five years in prison, suspending all but 90 days with three years probation. Sentencing is scheduled for April 26, 2006. In July 2005 police identified a witness in a pending attempted murder trial. The witness positively identified Timothy Meadows and Kenneth George as the individuals who attempted to murder a victim on June 26, 2005, in the 2600 block of Miles Ave. They were indicted for attempted first-degree murder and related charges and are awaiting trial on April 12. Say court documents:
"On October 14, 2005, Amanda Johnson went to the house of the witness and knocked on the door. Amanda Johnson asked, 'Why are you snitching on my family?' and then pulled out two photographic arrays with the identifying witness's signature and stated, 'I got these from discovery, and he is going to get it before he goes to court.' Amanda Johnson then left the area in her vehicle. She is the girlfriend of Kenneth George."
The Sun and I (Chuck) mis-identified two of last week's murder victims: According to "Murder Ink" and supported by BPD, Lenard Hawkins (not "Lennard") was the man killed on Lauretta Ave., and Darren Green (not "Derrick") was the man shot to death on Mapleleaf Ct. "Murder Ink" added one more name to the year's death toll: On March 23, the medical examiner ruled that the death of 41-year-old Gregory Rollins was murder, not suicide.
The sub-headline in the Sun really says it all: "King says he gave informants drugs to sell but insists he's not guilty of corruption."
The Blotter has everything from fake Louis Vuitton bags to a 20-year-old with a shotgun blast to the chest.
WYPR ran a two-part interview with Commissioner Hamm. (Part 1 and Part 2.)
In the nation's first case of a state taking over city-run schools under No Child Left Behind, Maryland State Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick is proposing to take control of 11 city middle and high schools in 18 months. Brian D. Morris, chairman of the city school board, was quoted in the Sun as saying, "This political [expletive] is eroding our ability to educate the children of our city." Funny. It seems like North Avenue's ability to educate the children of this city eroded a long time ago, but maybe that's just me being bitter.
Terrance Hawkins still hasn't refunded money to the majority of the people who paid him for a non-existant tour to see Oprah.
Benjamin Iloamuzo was indicted for identity theft and filing fake tax returns worth more than $220,000.
Laura Paolino-Moore pleaded guilty to operating a financial institution without a license, and was ordered to repay over $2,000 she stole from her debt-management clients.
In the "Heinous Crimes Against Underage College Students" department, Power Plant Live announced that they are ending their Thursday "College Night."
6 comments:
Good job.... put the asshole away for life.
Onanite
I'm confused by the Johnson case. Did she do a plea bargain, in which case the State concurred, or did the Judge pass sentence, in which case the State objected? I'm trying to figure out who gutted this wonderful new law. Judge Glynn?
Now does everyone see why I hate Remington? that attempted murder in Miles??? less than half a block from where Sam{my brother} was killed. I wish someone would ask me why I snitched on their family, I think I'd reply with a few choice words and a bitch slap to the face.
As a 13 year student of Baltimore City public schools, I found the state take over to be suspect, to say the least. The current arrangement between the state and the city is not working, city auditors have left, and the state does not seem to be adequately funding or overseeing the system. Since the state is as negligent as the city, maybe it makes sense to sell the system off, but I always have to ask, why don't the parents, students, teachers, or community organizations have any say in these decisions (of how their children are taught)?
As someone that studied for three years at Fallstaff middle school and ran the 5K course at Southwestern, I just have to ask if state education officials are really willing to do the work necessary to teach kids on Fallstaff road or W. Baltimore Street what they need to learn survive and thrive.
excerpts from the Lenny Hamm WYPR interview:
Khalid: "Is this city a safer city than it was a year ago?"
Hamm: "Absolutely, much safer, absolutely. All you need to do is walk around Reservoir Hill, go down to Canton, go up to Remington, go on the East Side, go over there to Berea, go to some of these basketball courts in Bocheck and Luzerne."
Reservoir Hill? Is he nuts? Remington? Liz will tell you about that. East Baltimore and Berea? Highest criminal concentrations in the city, idiot.
Hamm: "Leonard Hamm was doing very well as a retired citizen of Baltimore. And could very easily go back and do that again.."
and probably will... hopefully soon
You wanna know what needs done to improve the schools... children and their parents need to be told that teachers, not children, are the boss in the class. Children need to do what they're told or be suspended. Willful children should not be allowed to hold up classes. Leave those children behind. Please.
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