Brandon Grimes Guilty of 1st-Degree Murder

From the SA's Office:

A Baltimore City jury convicted Brandon Grimes, 23, of the 800 block of Cator Ave. today of first-degree murder, use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence and wear/carry/transport a handgun. The two-week trial ended yesterday and the jury deliberated approximately four hours over two days before reaching its verdict.

Judge Timothy J. Doory ordered a pre-sentence investigation be completed and scheduled sentencing for October 21, 2008.

In the early morning hours of January 9, 2007 Brandon Grimes fatally shot Baltimore Police Detective Troy Lamont Chesley, Sr. in the 4500 block of Fairfax Rd. as Chesley was returning home from his shift.

Assistant State’s Attorney Kevin Wiggins of the Homicide Division prosecuted this case.

More from the Sun's crime blog and Melissa Harris.

A 22-year-old man was shot to death on the West side.

The death of Ankush Gupta, found in the Harbor, is considered "suspicious."

Officer Tommy Sanders III pleaded not guilty this morning in the death of Edward Lamont Hunt.

What the?! A stadium employee was kidnapped!

Don't miss Page Croyder's blog at the Center for Emerging Media.

13 Shootings This Week

... mapped by Spotcrime.

And girl-on-girl robbery action on St. Paul Street.

Correction: Jayne Miller is Not a Biter

Van Smith of the CP tells us that Jayne has been on the Tillman tip for a while. Unlike Lori Barrett, she is not a biter. We hear she's also quit smoking! Yay Jayne!
BCrime regrets the error.

ps., right before the CP's article appeared, Lori Barrett went "on vacation" and hasn't been heard from since.

"Die Bitch Die"

Yike, Baltimore John Watch reports that a working girl was attacked by a tall, skinny man with "calcium deposits" on his face.

Media Blabber

WBAL= total biters!
Not long after the City Paper published court documents re. the Tillman raids, the NBC affiliate is patting itself on the back for "obtaining" them.
I guess clicking on a .pdf is strenuous if you smoke as much as Jayne Miller does!
Here's much more on the Tillman antics from the News Hole.

Also a biter: Lori Barrett of "b"

Don't miss CP's story from last week on the Sun's miseries.

Will Brandon Grimes go free again? "A city crime lab employee left his own DNA on the pistol police say Brandon Grimes used to kill an off-duty Baltimore police officer, according to testimony during Grimes' murder trial this morning." And also, ew.

In Rockville, "Ex-Teacher Charged With Giving Students Cocaine"!
It's a hell of a drug!

The new "Baltimore Crime Beat" column is on the arrest in the 1986 murder of wino Charlie Neeper

A guy who had his azz beat by county police after they accused him of stealing his own car is suing for $850k

Baltimore City Councilwoman Rochelle “Rikki” Spector (5th District) got a lucky break when the officer who issued her that disappearing traffic ticket somehow never got a summons.

Busy-handed octogenarian urologist survives plane crash, gets busted with doobage

Afternoon...

A 16 year old boy suffered from a nonfatal offense when he was shot last night in Northeast Baltimore.

Who will test the testers? Apparently the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board will.

In a twist of irony beyond hilarity, Anthony P. Wallnofer wrote the rule he's accused of allegedly breaking. You'd figure he'd have been smart enough to draft a loophole...

Daily Blotter, where it notes $30 worth of soft drinks stolen in Pikesville. What, tap water wasn't good enough for you?

Anna Ditkoff tracks the murders in Baltimore as few others can do, noting two from this past week in the process.

#142

Ink: former professional boxer Eddie VanKirk, 45, was shot by a crackhead on November 19 of last year and died on June 22 of this year; his death has been ruled a homicide.

Grand jury: "bupe" safe, effective

State police: let's just throw out that ACLU lawsuit, shall we?

Harley David, son of a bitch*!
*anyone who gets that reference gets major points!

Fan-freaking-tastic: Issues at the BPD crime lab may be a factor in the case of little dear Brandon Grimes.

Crooked government officials working in Baltimore? Kind sir, surely you jest!

Holy Pasta Fagioli! 5,000 gallons of Olive Oil spilled into the harbor and had to be cleaned up last night.

"Would you like my wallet to go with that pepperoni?"

And our daily crime blotter tells us what it is to be malicious, criminal, and male...

This Kitten Has Claws

Miss Washington County was arrested for breaking into her ex's home and punching his new girlfriend.
(thanks again J!)

August 25, 2008

Albert Edward Driscoll III was shot to death on a boat in Sparrow's Point. Mysterious!

A man and a woman shot in the NW

A follow-up on the six-year-old who was shot on Saturday.

Tragic: Lt. Gov. Brown's cousin was shot to death on Saturday by her crazed ex-boyfriend.

News of the hilarious: North Jersey ninjas take on drug dealers, end up in pokey
(thanks J!)

LOLZ!

BJW is putting the "fun" in "funky corner hookups"!

A six-year-old was wounded by a stray bullet in the NE.

In PGC, a 12-year-old was killed by teenagers playing with a shotgun.

Oh, that Judge Motz, once again making an example of a man condemned from birth to join the Bloods and firebomb houses. Everybody just wants to pick on poor Terrence!

Child killer Mark Castillo: I did it and I'm not crazy

Snoop says she never got the summons to appear as a murder witness.

Look Who's Blogging Too

Gus G. Sentementes on the happenings at the Sun

Look Who's Blogging Now

The Sun has a new crime blog. Their blogger's previous experience is most apt-- covering the Middle East!
Fill in the blank: the main difference between the Middle East in Baltimore and the one where the ferners live is______

August 22

Two shootings last night, one of them killed a 28-year-old man.
The past week's 11 shootings mapped by Spotcrime.

The woman found strangled in Herring Run Park was id'd: "Kiuna Jackson, 19, of the 1300 block of Windemere Ave. in the Ednor Gardens-Lakeside community had no criminal record or associations with criminals."

"Snoop" was "arrested on minor drug charges yesterday after police picked her up for refusing to cooperate as a witness in a murder trial, records show." Her bail review will be at 11 a.m. today at Central Booking.

Issues with crime lab contamination "sure to arise in court"

Docs: Fractured Hyoid Bad for Health

City health officials are holding an emergency meeting Friday to discuss the slayings of prostitutes as a public health issue.
Janis reports that 26 women linked to prostitution have been murdered since 1997. Only six of those cases have been closed by arrest. Since April, five prostitutes have been strangled to death.
The latest victim, still unidentified, was found in Herring Run Park six days ago.

Murder #141

Eric Brown, 20, shot last night.

The little darling who was the cameraman for the "Stop Snitching" video is off to the clink. But he had a bright future!

Brandon Grimes was connected to the gun used to kill Detective Troy Lamont Chesley by his ex-girlfriend. One quote I find particularly disgusting:

Authorities say it's unlikely that Grimes approached Chesley knowing he was a police officer. Carter, now Grimes' former girlfriend, echoed that sentiment.

"I'm not saying Brandon is a saint, but I can't see him taking an officer in uniform," Carter said.

So if its a cop, he wouldn't have (allegedly) shot him, but a normal peon is fair game. Outstanding - good to know there's some degree of honor.

In Baltimore, it's no longer safe to even walk outside of your house, as proven last night when a man was shot outside his front door.

Even more little dears hard at work, according to the blotter.
According to a Vanderbilt Professor, the key to insuring safe schools is understanding. Well done article overall with a couple of gems I'd like to include here:

Blacks, particularly boys, are too often assigned to special-education classes and left out of gifted classes, Ford said, because their teachers have low expectations for them and misinterpret their behavior. Low expectations can be manifested in several ways. Most obviously it is not pushing them into advanced placement classes, and more subtly it is dumbing down language that teachers use in the classroom.

"Remind yourself to talk up to children," she said, adding that use of complex vocabulary should be standard no matter how young the children or how poor their backgrounds.

She also said that African-American students do not revere teachers as Asian-American students do and that teachers must earn their respect.

"African-Americans have an attitude that says, 'When you respect me, I will respect you,'" Ford said. When teachers seem detached or uninterested in their students, black students see that as a sign of disrespect, she said. Students who don't feel the teacher likes or respects them are then more likely to talk back and be disruptive, leading to a classroom that can be more out of control.

I'll leave the rest for your imagination. Thoughts on it?

Don't miss...

Posted yesterday but worth a bump: the CP's article collection and search warrant affadavits from Monday's Tillman raid.