March 21

City Paper covers the murders of Charles Erdman, Mark Anthony Robinson, Tyrone Jackson Jr., Steven Washington, Christopher Clarke, Antwan Askins, Michael Stuckey, and two men who were unidentified as of the CP's press time (one of whom has since been ID'd as 30-year-old Edwin Mathews, see link below).

Christopher Clark(e) was an honors physics student with no criminal record who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Late yesterday afternoon, two more people were added to the city's murder roll. At about 6:00, police found a man who'd been shot to death in an apartment on E. 43rd St. several hours earlier. At about 5:15, 20-year-old Charles Hargrove was taken to Shock Trauma, where he died about 30 minutes later. He had been shot several times in the head on the 1500 block of Rayner Ave.

Lamar Damian Fleming was Annapolis' second murder of the year. The killing occurred Monday night in the Bywater Mutual Homes community.

A body was found next to the USS Constellation in the Inner Harbor.

Vaughan Lamont Garris was arrested for the death of Chontae Waters. Garris was Waters' next door neighbor.

Two movers in Sykesville got into a fight over a palate jack on Monday. One of the men was stabbed, the other charged with attempted murder.

The Blotter tells of a shooting, two shootings, a shooting, a shooting, and an arrest.

Two separate attacks in Glen Burnie yesterday.

Carroll County, the last county in the state to rely entirely on the Maryland State Police, is establishing its own police department.

March 20

A man's body was found in a house in the 2900 block of E. Madison Ave. on Saturday afternoon. Missing Cumberland resident Candice Annette Page was found, alive, at the same time with a gunshot wound to the back of her head. (Thanks for the link, Chris.)

The body of 31-year-old Chontae Waters was found in her Putnam Green rowhouse on Heatherton Ct. Waters was stabbed to death and was found by her roommate. (Putnam Green is in Baltimore County, near Woodlawn.)

Timothy Brockington and Tyrone Gross were sentenced to 45 years for kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery. Their victim was an off-duty BPD officer. Gross is a three-time felon, so he must serve the first 25 years without the possibility of parole.

On July 5, 2005 at approximately 1:30AM off duty Baltimore Police Officer Antoine Boykin was at the Exxon gas station at 513 E. Mulberry Street when a burgundy Lincoln with three males inside pulled up next to him. One of the defendants, who was armed with a handgun, got out of the Lincoln and approached Officer Boykin. Officer Boykin was forced into the defendant’s vehicle at gunpoint. An unknown person exited the defendant’s vehicle and took Officer Boykin’s car from the gas station. Once inside the Lincoln, Officer Boykin was robbed at gunpoint and was struck in the head several times with the gun. The defendants drove Officer Boykin to the 1100 block of Myrtle Avenue where he was blindfolded and walked at gunpoint down the rear alley. The defendants had a conversation indicating that they planned to stash Officer Boykin inside of a vacant house at which time they walked into the yard of 1123 Myrtle Avenue and up the stairs. Officer Boykin was able to withdraw his service weapon, fire at the defendants and get away. Officer Boykin flagged an unknown citizen and was able to call 911. Timothy Brockington was located in the rear yard of 1123 Myrtle Avenue with gunshot wounds; Tyrone Gross was located in the front yard with a gunshot wound.

After pleading guilty to 2nd degree murder on March 8, Larry McMillian was sentenced to 25 years yesterday afternoon:

On May 25, 2006 following a neighborhood dispute McMillian shot Ruffin twice, once to the head and once to the leg. The incident occurred in the alley behind Mr. Ruffin’s home in the 2000 block of Woodbourne Avenue.

Roger Burks was indicted yesterday for first-degree murder. Burks is accused of stabbing Irvin Conley to death at a backyard cookout on July 3, 2006.

A badly decomposed body was found in Leakin Park.

Baltimore County Councilman Vincent Gardina wants an investigation of the taser-related death of Ryan Lee Meyers.

Sheila D. is going to have "frank discussions" about our rising murder rate. In an exciting development, there will be meetings to discuss the problem. In the first of four "emergency meetings," the people said they want more foot patrols.

It appears that Her Honor is starting to see the outrage she so strongly desires.

House of Correction: "It's as bad as you could imagine."

Scary pervs of the day: A man tried to grab a 16-year-old HoCo high school student and drag her into the woods. And in Carroll County, 34-year-old Lincoln Goodman Sr. was charged with picking up two teenage girls, getting them drunk, waiting for one of them to pass out, and then having his way with her.

Beware of DPW workers who show up unannounced.

There's a statewide struggle to retain and recruit school teachers. The article fails to mention anything about teachers who leave because they're getting beaten up, nor does it address whether student-on-teacher violence is a problem outside of Baltimore City.

March 19

One killing over the weekend has been reported so far; a 22-year-old man was shot to death on Queensberry Ave in Park Heights.

40-year-old Ryan Lee Meyers was killed by a police taser gun while he was allegedly attacking his family members with a baseball bat.

17-year-old Kenneth Tomlin tried to steal a Caddy but got killed instead.

Good times around town: A barber was stabbed, a 64-year-old man was robbed at gunpoint, a 13-year-old boy was assaulted and robbed, a man was shot in the face, and a couple cut each other during an argument. (And that's not even looking at the county.)

No more House of Corruption.

A convicted heroin dealer just bought the Hillendale Shopping Center, home to a Baltimore County police substation.

O'Malley's legacy lingers on.

Trouble's brewing at the Cecil County Detention Center.

Frednecks have vandalized their local mosque three times this year.

An honorary Darwin Award should go to Zachary Martin, who cut his hand while vandalizing a knife store.

The Guardian Angels expect about three dozen applicants for their new Harford County chapter.

March 17

65-year-old Charles R. Erdman has been added to the list of this year's homicides. He died on March 9 after being intentionally run down after a minor traffic accident.

A 23-year-old woman was raped in White Marsh last Saturday morning.

A Hyattsville woman helped reunite a Missouri mother and her kidnapped son.

In AAC, Aubrey Mayhew cried and pleaded guilty to strangling his estranged wife, who for some inexplicable reason was seeking full custody of their two kids.

Sheila D. apologized for the cops who arrested a 7-year-old boy. She is also calling for an emergency meeting about the problem of student-on-teacher attacks in the city's school system. If we're really lucky, maybe she and Commissioner Hamm will form both a task force and a committee.

Four years for the racist Hagerstown cop.

College students in Salisbury are passing "bogus Benjamins." (WJZ's words, not mine.)

Columbia cat ladies Ayten and Nese Enetullah Icgoren accepted a plea deal for their animal cruelty charges.

March 16

49-year-old Michael Stuckey was stabbed to death in the Southwest, allegedly by 50-year-old Robin A. Weaver. In the same article, Antwan D. Askins was ID'd as the man who was fatally shot in Lauraville on Tuesday night and Maurice Wilkerson was arrested for the murder of Steven Washington.

Danielle Eboni Riley got 20 years for killing her newborn baby.

Yesterday, Anthony Jerome Miller was found guilty for the murders of Jason Convertino and Sean Wisniewski. Sentencing is scheduled for June 8.

On April 16, 2003 at approximately 2:30AM police responded to 1917 Gough Street for a shooting. Upon arrival, officers discover the bodies of Jason M. Convertino, 31, and Sean M. Wisniewski, 22, in an apartment inside the building. The medical examiner later rules that both men died as a result of gunshot wounds. Evidence from the crime scene is gathered and secured. In May 2003 a laptop computer owned by Convertino is pawned by Miller. In March 2005 DNA evidence is collected from a piece of evidence discovered at the crime scene, a latex glove, and in November 2005 that DNA is matched to Miller.

Perv of the day: Jose Elder Montufar is wanted for kidnapping and raping a 13-year-old Baltimore girl.

Anthony Hawks was arrested for last month's murder of Harold Robinson at Club International. Also in the Blotter, a burglar in Greektown got the beatdown when he broke into an occupied house.

City leaders are outraged and horrified by the arrest of 7-year-old Gerard Mungo Jr.

Yesterday, Frederick County released the 911 tapes from the fire that destroyed a shopping center last month.

An inmate at the Baltimore City Detention Center was injured during a fight on a jail van.

Kevin "Chopper" Barnes got community service for robbing a couple at gunpoint in 2001. Apparently, his lawyer asked the court to cut his client some slack for the youthful mistake and not jeopardize Chopper's pending million-dollar record deal.

It looks like Bowling Brook might be liquidating their property.

Former BPD cop Andre Alan Stover earned $150,000 from false workers' comp claims.

Truants may be losing the right to drive.

The Guardian Angels will be recruiting for their Edgewood chapter this weekend.

March 15

Two people were killed and three were injured in two separate Northeast Baltimore shootings on Tuesday night. 18-year-old Christopher Clarke was one of the men killed; the other has not yet been identified.

Parole was revoked for Lawrence Banks, who will be in prison until 2014. So far, Banks has murdered his son, killed a friend, and thrown his 7-month-old daughter through a glass door. He is being investigated for the deaths of his girlfriend's 22-year-old daughter and 9-month-old granddaughter.

A 7-year-old boy was arrested while sitting on his dirt bike in East Baltimore.

A guard at Central Booking might be stealing inmates' credit cards.

Our elected leaders continue to fail miserably at battling witness intimidation.

Perv of the day: 52-year-old volleyball coach Robert Borello got 18 months for his 'relationship' with one of his 16-year-old Wicomico High School students.

A fire commander at the BFD training academy was suspended for 30 days for not properly tracking EMS certifications. Additionally, nearly 1/4 of the BFD cannot legally drive large vehicles, including fire trucks.

Racists vandalized a street sign in front of Councilman Harris' home in the 4th.

On what was, indeed, a 'hisrotic' day, police headquarters was re-named as the Bishop L. Robinson Sr. Police Administration Building yesterday.

March 14

Murder Ink covers a multitude of homicide convictions and closed cases, along with the deaths of Michael Woods, Richard Stuckey, Anthony Bryan, Allen Coates, and Damon Smith. This is the first media mention of Anthony Bryan's death, who was 37 years old when he was shot once behind his right ear in the Southwest neighborhood of Rosemont last Friday.

Three men have been killed in Baltimore since Monday. An unidentified man was shot late yesterday morning during an argument in the 1600 block of Cliftview Ave. in East Baltimore. Early yesterday morning, Tyrone Jackson Jr. was fatally shot on the front porch of his family's house on Brook Ave. in the Northeast. On Monday night, Mark Robinson was found on the sidewalk in the 2700 block of Harlem Ave; he had been shot repeatedly and died at Shock Trauma.

Nancy Jean Siegel allegedly killed her much-older boyfriend more than 10 years ago, and his been cashing his Social Security checks ever since.

Convicted murdered Lawrence Banks may go back to prison for parole violations, while PG police investigate whether he was involved in the murders of his girlfriend's daughter and granddaughter.

Death row inmate Lawrence Borchardt, convicted for killing an elderly couple who helped him while he was a heroin addict, died in his cell on Sunday.

There's a serial bank robber running amok in the city. And a former bank robber contemplates all of the wasted years and wasted lives.

A citizen in Charles County helped capture some neo-Nazis.

A mother and son in Washington County were indicted for stealing from the liquor board.

March 13

Travis Davon Terry was convicted of first-degree murder today by a Harford County jury in the shooting death of Edwin Lee Potillo. He could get a death sentence.

Police and family members are seeking new information about the murder of Gap Suk Suh, who was murdered on Friday, November 3 after a minor accident with a Buick Rendezvous at the corner W. Mulberry St. and Jasper St. Suh would have turned 60 yesterday.

18-year-old Raymond Zubrowski Jr. has been missing from North Point for 45 days and "seems to have disappeared without a trace."

Good times in the city over the past few days: a shooting, two shootings, a shooting, a shooting, and a bank robbery.

Joseph Kopera's false credentials and make-believe science may lead to the review of hundreds of murder and shooting cases.

Perv of the day: William Wray of Crespatown, who was charged with abusing an 11-year-old girl.

Perv of the day, part II: A transcript from last night's "Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees" on CNN, where Headline News anchor Thomas Roberts discusses being abused by former Calvert Hall chaplain Father Jerome Toohey from 1987 - 1990.

Michael Dean Jackson Jr. got the maximum sentence -- 10 years -- for voluntary manslaughter for shooting Anthony James Owens-Smith to death in Howard County.

Leeander Blake's confession is admissible in his federal murder trial.

BFD Captain Brian K. Edwards is in trouble for talking to the Sun.

The City Council is considering banning BB guns because they "have the same effect as real guns when they're used by criminals." Uh, yeah, the same effects, except for real bullets' tendencies to tear flesh and shatter bones and destroy organs.

In other City Council news, members unanimously agreed that the death penalty is bad, even if the killer used a BB gun.

Evening

An e-mail from TheSunLies@gmail.com:
"TheSunLies didn't disappear after Ehrlich's loss. It continued through January and is in the process of finding a new server. Checkout [sic] www.baltimorereporter.com for the interim posters. Please note your mistake."

At a hearing today, Jeffrey Morgan, aka Chester Moore, 42, of the 900 block of East Chase Street, pled guilty to robbery and robbery deadly weapon. Judge M. Brooke Murdock sentenced Morgan to 12 years in prison. On October 3, 2006 at approximately 10:20 p.m. in the 500 block of East Lombard Street victim Lisa L. Dickerson was preparing to enter her MTA vehicle when Morgan approached and stuck a screwdriver into her right side stating, “I will poke you. I will hurt you.” Morgan then reached across her person, removed her GPS, and then fled the scene. Dickerson subsequently entered her vehicle (MTA vehicle equipped with a siren) and began following defendant with siren activated. Pursuit continued into the unit block of Market Place where three security officers were able to apprehend defendant. Morgan still possessed Dickerson's property and screwdriver.

A Baltimore City jury today convicted Erskine Jones, 30, of the 2400 block of North Calvert Street, of first-degree rape, third- and fourth-degree sex offense and second degree assault. The jury deliberated approximately five hours following two days of testimony. Judge David Ross scheduled sentencing for March 20, 2007. Jones faces a maximum possible term of life plus 10 years in prison. On May 16, 2003 Jones raped and threatened to kill the victim, telling her he had a gun. The attack occurred in the rear of 317 Dolphin Street. Police identified Jones with a DNA search of the Combined Offender Data Index System (CODIS) in November 2004. The victim identified Jones in a photo array two weeks later. Jones is currently charged with an additional five rapes with five separate victims and is awaiting trial, scheduled for March 20, 2007.

March 12

Two reported killings over the weekend: On Saturday, Allen Coates was at a birthday party at Maceo's Lounge. He confronted a man who was "groping" a woman at the party and was repeatedly shot as a result. Early Sunday morning, 40-year-old Damon Smith was found in an alley of the 5000 block of Denmore in the Northwest; he had been repeatedly shot more than an hour before.

17-year-old Andrew Tuell was arrested in Utah for the Annapolis murder of Terrance Powell, and Daniel Lawson was arrested in Glen Burnie for last week's murder of James Fabian in Brooklyn Park (AAC).

BaCo popo want CoCo.

A 50-year-old Delaware woman traveled to Harford County and unsucessfully hired a hit man to take out her step-mother.

DNA evidence led prosecutors to drop charges against Andre Christopher King, accused of raping an 8-year-old. The victim's family still claim that he did it.

A 16-year-old was killed when his drunk friend crashed into a tree.

A librarian was robbed at gunpoint in the elevator of a parking garage while she was on her way to work at the Towson public library.

A happier, friendlier Central Booking awaits you.

Gregory Kane looks at the recent stabbings at the Maryland House of Corrections in Jessup.

A man who might have been drinking a the flight from Phoenix was arrested at BWI for slapping flight attendants.

It's not right to work so hard for your constituents yet bring home a paltry $80,000, so I think we'd all agree that our city leaders deserve an 18-to-26% pay increase.

Perhaps our state workers also deserve a raise, so they can stop watching porn at work and do it at home instead.

March 11

"What happens to freedom of thought when the government knows your thoughts?"

Copper wire, a 13-year-old minivan, a Nintendo Wi, two aluminum ladders and a backpack.

March 9

It was a banner week for city prosecutors.

Devon Richardson, 15, of the 5100 block of Belair Road pled guilty today to second-degree murder. Under terms of the plea agreement, announced in open court, Richardson faces a maximum possible prison sentence of 20 years suspend all but a maximum of 10 years when Judge Wanda K. Heard sentences him on May 3. According to court testimony Richardson, who was 14 at the time, was a child in need of assistance (CINA) who was not in school the day of the incident. On September 26, 2006 Richardson shot and killed Janice Letmate, 67, with a .22 caliber rifle while she was walking home in the 4000 block of Biddison Lane. Letmate suffered a single gunshot to the head. One witness described him as aiming the gun and another described him as holding the gun in her direction when the gun fired.

This afternoon a Baltimore jury convicted Erik Stoddard, 26, of the 2500 block of Moore Avenue, of second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault and first- and second-degree child abuse resulting in death. Prosecutors proceeded with a new trial after the Court of Appeals vacated Stoddard's 2003 conviction. The jury deliberated for approximately four hours before reaching its verdict following five days of testimony. Judge Allen L. Schwait ordered a pre-sentence investigation and scheduled sentencing for May 9, 2007. Stoddard faces a maximum possible prison term of 60 years. The backstor:

A Baltimore City jury convicted Stoddard March 13, 2003 of second-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death for the death of Calen Faith Dirubbo, 3, and Stoddard began serving a 60-year prison term. On December 8, 2005 the Maryland Court of Appeals vacated Stoddard's conviction, citing evidentiary issues regarding hearsay testimony. The mother of an 18-month-old child who witnessed the murder testified how a surviving child now acts and that the child asked, "Is Erik going to get me?" These statements were not used by prosecutors in this second trial.

On June 15, 2002 Dirubbo was pronounced dead at her home, where she lived with her mother and Stoddard. Dirubbo died as a result of multiple beatings over a period of at least a month; the fatal blow occurred June 15, 2002 and severed her bowel. The State proved through detailed medical evidence that Stoddard was the only person who had custody of Dirubbo when the fatal blow occurred. Julie Drake, Chief of the Felony Family Violence Division, and Assistant State's Attorney Jeremy Eldridge prosecuted this case.

Robert J. Brown, 46 and a former soldier, had been working as an apartment super until he was arrested for raping and killing a woman 23 years ago near Bad Homburg, Germany.

Joseph Kopera, a ballistics expert for the state police, shot and killed himself last Thursday, a day after leaving his job as a state police ballistics examiner. Officials said his academic credentials were being questioned, they expect a ton of defendants to appeal, and now the backgrounds of all state police lab employees are being audited.

What's old is new again: Baltimore police are walking the streets, and the difference has been "mind-boggling."

The final Tamil Tiger on trial, Haji Subandi, pled guilty to conspiring to ship surface-to-air missles to Sri Lanka.

Jesse Holbrook, 16, allegedly dragged a police officer more than 200 feet during a traffic stop on Route 40 in Elkton. Holbrook was arrested and charged as an adult with multiple traffic violations, resisting arrest and assault ("charged with charges").

A decade later, theories abound, but still no one really knows who killed Biggie.

March 8

A teenager was shot in the face in the 3200 block of Phelps Lane in the Southwest last night.

Steve Carr, 38, of the 3800 block of Hillsdale Avenue in Baltimore, will be arraigned Friday, March 9 at 9:30 a.m. before Judge Martin P. Welch. Carr is charged with Armed Robbery and Assault on A. Robert Kauffman on December 6, 2006, in his home in the 2000 block of N. Hilton Street in Baltimore. Court documents allege that Carr assaulted A. Robert Kauffman on his head with a brick, and then took his wallet with more than $100 in cash.

Police are looking for Jose Elder Montufar, 28, of Parkville, friend of the victim's uncle, wanted for the kidnapping and rape of a 13-year-old girl in Govans who only habla español.

Eighteen years for Steven Lee, 20, from Judge John Glynn after Lee pled guilty to second-degree murder for shooting and killing Edward Brown in the 1300 block of Mosher Street during an argument on January 5, 2006.

Thomas Harris, 33, turned himself in for the first-degree murder of Karim Cross, whom he allegedly stabbed in the Rush Hour Bar on Liberty Road in Randallstown.

Immediately after being "tied up in court this week" with client Ameer Taylor, Warren Brown zipped up to Bosely Avenue to take the stand at a motions hearing for his former client, Jamaal K. Abeokuto, who has a second death sentence-related hearing next month.

William Wright, 37, got 15 years after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

"Baltimore County police shot a woman who charged an officer yesterday while she was holding knives in a house in Essex."

Not Baltimore but makes for Good reading anyway Dept.:
CA's vague medical marijuana laws have local police in a bind.
(MD allows medical marijuana, but I've never heard of anyone atempting to use MD's law as a defense)

Headline of the week : "Man boasts he had sex with mayor"
No, it's not about Baltimore (sadly) but about SF's much-stalked Gavin Newsom.

March 7

A Baltimore jury convicted Ameer Taylor, 32, of the 7400 block of Barkers Court, today of first degree murder and use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence. Judge David Ross sentenced Taylor to life in prison for the murder and a consecutive 20 years for the handgun count. On June 2, 2005 at approximately 2:30 a.m. Samuel David Richardson (right) and his girlfriend were walking home from their jobs at the Rendez-Vous Bar on 26th street. As they walked along the 400 block of West 26th Street Taylor drove past them, stopped his car, backed up to them, said something to Richardson and fired two fatal shots, striking him twice in the head.
The conviction is surely a relief to Liz and the Richardson family.

Murder Ink recounts last week's victims Vernon Carter, Vic Finner, Thomas Terry [our 48], and Anthony Brown, notes arrests for muders of David Savage, Stephanie Stevens, Harold Robinson and Marcus McDowell.

Bodyguards for teachers?
An Art teacher at Waverly middle school was assaulted by students and quit in fear for her safety, now the state is seeking to suspend her certification for breaking her contract.

The Justice Department acknowledged yesterday that Thomas DiBiagio was forced from office, but an employee says it was the "front-page indictment" memo that did in his career.

"The governor, attorney general, state's attorneys, police chiefs and three-quarters of the House of Delegates all are gung-ho to pass legislation expanding the ability to prosecute" alleged gang members for "participating in a criminal gang knowing that the other members engage in crime" but the definition of "gang" sounds awfully vague: "to be a gang, it must have some kind of identifying sign, symbol, name, leader or purpose."
So if call up your friends and plan to meet them somewhere to do something, you're a gang.


Edgy new billboards invoke Itchy Man.

March 6

The Baltimore City Grand Jury today indicted Vivian Day, 49, of the 2000 block of W. North Avenue, on charges of first-degree murder. Court documents allege that on December 28, 2006 Vivian Day struck and killed her friend, Nelsene Burnette, 44, with an object during an altercation. Subsequently, court documents allege Ms. Burnette was found in the bedroom closet in Day's apartment. Ms. Burnette had been reported missing by a family member days before Day revealed the location of Ms. Burnette. An arraignment is scheduled for April 6 before Judge Martin P. Welch, Rm 228, Courthouse East. Assistant State's Attorney and Division Chief of Homicide Mark Cohen will prosecute.

Former MD Federal prosecutor Thomas DiBiagio says he was forced out of his job because he had investigators "interested in tracing substantial payments made by a gambling company to a political marketing business in Maryland with ties to Maryland Republicans."
Ehrlich, on the other hand, says he was made ineffective due to lingering resentments over the Edward "R." Norris affair.

The 19-year-old shot on West Hamburg Street and driven to the Hyatt died at Shock Trauma [48].

Dept of WTF?
Tracey Gardner-Tetso, who went missing on her way to a Crüe concert two years ago, is still gone without a trace, and it's implied an estranged husband may be involved somehow.

State police found a human skull and some other creepy crap in a cauldron in Conowingo.

Police are still looking for the Valentine's Day rapist of Arbutus, and have released a sketch.

Fledia Powell, nominated for a County panel for the disabled, is accused of talking crazy talk and pulling a shotgun on her son's girlfriend.

Whomever shot Russian intelligence expert Paul Joyal in PGC last week "did not, as law enforcement sources said, take his wallet, the victim's adult son said yesterday."

Charles: Whether Antoine Jones of Waldorf was one of the area's biggest cocaine importers and money launderers, or merely a successful nightclub promoter, the jury simply could not decide.

O'Malley to China: quit eating our terrapins!

March 5

Isaiah Simmons' death at Bowling Brook in Carroll County has been ruled a homicide, and an FBI investigation will commence.

On March 2, 2007 the BC Grand Jury indicted Nicholas Deminds, 19, of the 700 block of Linnard Street and Steven Blunt, 33, of Martinsburg West Virginia on first-degree murder and other counts. Court documents allege on January 31 Stephanie Stevens, 22, was fired upon by two individuals as she approached the 700 block of Edgewood Street. Nicholas Deminds was identified as one of the two individuals responsible for the shooting. The other individual fled on foot in an unknown direction. Ms. Stevens died as a result of her injuries. An arraignment is scheduled for March 27 before Judge Lynn K. Stewart Room 215 Mitchell Courthouse.

A pre-teen boy and a man were shot shot during an apparent home invasion attempt in the 2000 block of Smallwood Street, the man has died [47].

Pam Morgan found out who killed her son Jason Convertino in a month, but had to wait three years for the killer to be indicted.

WMAR on new reception court:

Officials in Baltimore's Circuit Court are hoping to take some of the agony out of jury duty. They are shuffling criminal case assignments and hope to reduce the amount of time that jurors spend doing nothing. Until now, each judge has had to hear dozens of routine court appearances on their daily calendars before beginning their trials. Now those routine cases are being managed by two judges -- freeing the eight other judges to concentrate solely on trials. The change takes effect today.

PDJ: County gymnastics coach, Patrick David Bogan, 41, charged with possession of "more than 800 videotapes and magazines showing children having sex with men, and books and newspaper articles about pedophilia and child abduction."

"Only she knew who they were." Broadwater procured the Brandy Britton file, found she kept very responsible notes.

Sun Op-Ed: we've got to do something with the crazy people!

March 4

Broadwater: Two die every three days in "Murder City" and police have solved only nine of 2007's 45 official murders.
Ed Norris: "Could you imagine if 300 white kids were killed in this city? ... the National Guard would be on every corner. There's a genocide going on, and everyone’s ignoring it. It's just disgraceful.”

Correctional officer Edouardo Edouazin, 28, is recovering at home after being shanked with a handcrafted weapon. His wife told police that her husband was threatened when he began working at the prison in November.

PGC:
Amara Eden, 31, left, was arrested after firefighters found her five children, aged six months to six years, had set a fire trying to cook their own food. Then it gets worse.

Paul Joyal, a Russian intelligence expert and government critic, was shot in the groin on his way home from a trip to the Spy museum, soon after he said on TV that the Putin government was probably involved with the poisoning of a former K.G.B. agent.

March 3

Get In On It! Two men shot in the 100 block of West Hamburg Street "created a raucous scene Saturday night when they turned up with multiple gunshot wounds" in the valet parking area of the Hyatt Regency on Light Street.

Prep school days:
Following the death of Isaiah Simmons, Bowling Brook Preparatory School will be closed.

CEO David McDowell Robinson is in hot water for running a Ponzi scheme that bilked investors, including Katrina victims. You know it's Baltimore when "Gilman" is in the first sentence!

Post: A PGC jury "yesterday convicted a county police corporal of assaulting four teenagers when he pepper-sprayed them last year, marking the first time in at least 12 years that a Prince George's officer has been convicted in state court for law enforcement-related use of force."

Jim Brochin of the county says Joseph Vallario is the guy standing the the way of the new Sex Offender Evidence Bill.

A bench warrant was issued last week for former Da Band rapper Young City, right, (from P. Diddy's reality show), after he missed a court appearance stemming from an arrest six years ago for robbing a man with a BB gun in Eastpoint Mall. Young City (née Kevin Barnes) is in jail in Gwinett County, GA., following an arrest for assaulting his "girlfriend."

Envigorated by the overwhelming popularity of Glowing Metal Hermaphrodite Looming Over the Train Station and those beloved, ubiquitous candy-colored giant metal curlicues, city officials hope to force all new publically funded construction costs to pay 1 percent of costs towards more public art.

The Texas oysters had their revenge on MD food-festival-goers February 9-11.

What if indeed!

Funniest! Billboard Ever!
For literally months I drove by it and assumed it was urging people to get tested for some "social disease"!
I finally noticed it's for ... the Sun.
I love how it asks and answers its own question!
"What if you didn't know?"
You'd be a Sun reader, of course!
(Wouldn't "what if you knew" be more, um, positive?)
Wonder how many thousands the Tribune paid for that powerful call to action to get news from somewhere else?

March 2

Starting Monday at the courthouse: "Reception Court."
Explains an insider: "The goal of reception court is to have all the cases for trials appear before two judges, one in each building. They will personally review all these cases then send them off to other judges who presumably will not have dockets since all the cases will be before the so called reception courts. Determinations will be made as to what cases should go forward, etc, based on how old they are, how many times they have been postponed, etc."
Fascinating!

Marc Steiner spent two hours talking about Baltimore crime, and in the modern fashion both shows are available as a two-part podcast: Hour one, hour two.

The trial of Ameer Taylor, accused of killing Samuel Richardson June 2 of 2005 behind the Rendez-Vous is scheduled begin Monday. The trial's start date has been postponed three times. The word from the office of Mrs. J:

The murder trial of Ameer Taylor, 32, of the 7400 block of Barkers Court, is scheduled for trial 9:30A a.m. Monday, March 5, 2007 before Judge David Ross, 203 Mitchell Courthouse ... A Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Taylor February 15, 2006 for first-degree murder, use of a handgun in the commission of a felony crime of violence, and handgun on person in connection with the fatal shooting of Samuel Richardson. Court documents allege that in the early morning hours of June 2, 2005 Taylor pulled up to Richardson, who was walking in the 400 block of West 26th Street, pulled a handgun and shot Richardson several times. Richardson was transported to Johns Hopkins Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

As if your girl-crush wasn't already heavy, ♥Jayne Miller♥ digs into the clusterfuck that is the bail-bonds business, and hounded the guy who posted bail for Brandon Grimes down Calvert Street.

What the?! Twenty-year-old dad Kenneth George Ryan huffed keyboard cleaner (?!), beat his 15-month-old-son Julian Woody to death.

Sign of the times: WBAL reported that three people were shot at a birthday party on the East side... and in spite of the crime scene tape, the party kept on.

Again?! Another officer has was attacked at Jessup, and the suspect is a 38-year-old convicted murderer serving a life sentence.

In the Eastern, a man shot two guys sitting in a parked car.

The man found dead in the area of Max Blobs Park Road in Jessup was ID'd as Leonard Richard Prahl, 55.

"A trooper found $300,000 in powder cocaine in a minivan with New York license plates on Interstate 95 in Cecil County during a traffic stop."