Sex-related robberies?

Feb 4's victim was apparently an Internet pimp, and "Police are exploring reports that two women might have been involved in sex-related robberies in North Baltimore."

Legislation would make a few more cases death-penalty eligible . Also in A-town, debate on the booze tax

Lots on interesting stuff in the Crime beat blog today.. most upsetting is this tale of revolving-door justice that let an killer out again and again

Dixon's fur coats, camera and Xbox are for sale on ebay today

the daily dismal

Last week's four murders in the Ink

Mexican murdered in Cockeysville

An arrest in the murder of security guard James Ball

And an arrest in the South Baltimore pub-crawl stabbing

City police mad at school police for not reporting 8-year-old with gun

Seriously? The CP reports that Maryland is the only state in the nation without a criminal child-neglect law. Bills 962 and 757 would change that, but child advocates say the legislation is flawed.

Twin-brother burglars arrested

"Dwyer undeterred still on Gansler impeachment effort"

A change to MD's child-support guidelines

and now a batshit white woman

How about the Lifetime drama of this tale: buttleggin' Karla Porter, who allegedly enlisted her quinquagenarian siblings, a nephew and some random guys to help kill her husband, blamed the murder on a "black male," got found out when she tried to pay a witness to leave town, showed up at the victim's funeral with plagiarized poetry and wildflower-seed bookmarks; got arrested, pulled the "abused wife" card ... oh just read the story already.

Not guilty

Alleged Crips member Elliot Wilkes, aka "Shitty" was found not guilty of killing Gary Wills, even with seemingly compelling eye witness testimony.

Inspector General

Has just wrapped up his work on the case of sex offender who stayed on the city payroll while serving time for sexually abusing a minor.

Tort-ure

After 26 years, a settlement in special-ed lawsuit Vaughn G. et al vs. The Mayor and City Council of Baltimore.

Douche du Jour

Sounds like PGC Rep. Vallario made a huge ass of himself in front of FHB III in Annapolis last week-- apparently he didn't read his own handouts. Long-time loyal readers may remember some of his other greatest hits: In 2007, he was reportedly the only guy standing the the way of a new Sex Offender Evidence Bill. In 2006 he voted against House Bill 320, which was to strengthen Witness Intimidation Reforms for women and children victims of felony sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse. Wonder what they see in him down in PGC?

"Grieving widow" arrested in murder of Towson Hess station owner (at his funeral!)
.. more from the Sun.

Body found in car

Woman's body found in car on the 4900 block of Greenspring

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Fenton Tweets "The man shot last night in the 2100 block of W. Fayette St. died. The city's west side continues to be the most violent this year, easily"

Life + 35 for Roland Park Rapist

From the SAO:

At a hearing today, Judge John A. Howard sentenced Roger Len Ervin, 48, [right] of the 3100 block of Oakley Avenue to life plus 35 years in prison.

Judge Howard ordered Ervin serve a life term for first-degree rape, a consecutive 25 year term for first-degree assault and a consecutive 10 year term for use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence. A Baltimore jury convicted Ervin December 15, 2009 of these counts and burglary, armed robbery, conspiracy to commit burglary and sex offense counts after a three-day trial and approximately one hour of deliberation.

On August 23, 2007 Ervin broke into the victim’s Roland Park home, assaulted and raped her. He also burglarized the home and robbed the victim of personal possession while pointing a gun at her. Police recovered DNA from the victim and eventually identified Ervin with a DNA search of the Combined Offender Data Index System (CODIS) in March 2008.

The victim delivered an emotional impact statement to the court in which she relived the attack in graphic detail, noting how two of her vertebrae were cracked. She recounted the months of painful physical therapy and how to this day her range of mobility is affected. She told the court that she is no longer able to be as active with her grandchildren.

Assistant State’s Attorney Jennifer McAllister of the Sex Offense Division prosecuted this case.

... and Ervin's accomplice is still unidentified and out there somewhere, as far as we know.

Fun fact! In 1983, Ervin sued the Department of Corrections for "excessive imprisonment"

Feats of Tenacity

Four are charged with attempted murder (and more, one hopes) after abducting a teenage girl at the Executive Inn, trying to extract ransom out of relatives, and torturing, shooting and stabbing her in a vacant house near Patterson Park on Sunday, then leaving her to die in a flooded basement. But she survived, escaped and named her attackers as Torrence Jerome White, 23, Adesha Richardson, 27, Keonay Hill, 20 and Morris James, 22.

A 23-year-old shot to death at Nicholas & Belair Rds.

Also, a 43-year-old man has died after being punched in the face. (Can't find a link to this story... but apparently fatal face punches are not as rare as one might think: in the past month there have been face-punching murder cases in Austrailia, Wisconsin [twice!], Idaho, and NZ)

A double shooting near the Velvet Rope club, site of a small riot last week; the club's manager says they can't be responsible for what happens after patrons leave.

The Kevin Clark case goes on and on... today it's being heard at the Court of Appeals.

The family John Yates, killed in a hit-and-run while riding his bicycle, is suing contractors Potts & Callahan for $5 m

If grain alcohol is the blackouteriffic secret ingredient in your jungle juice recipe, stock up now.

Guns in schools

A 8-year old at Leadenhall Elementary school packing heat got nabbed by an alert school adminstrator yesterday before he could carry out his threats.

Please hammer

Carrol county hammer attacker nabbed in GA.

Mayor is hospitalized

Mayor Rawlings-Blake was taken to the hospital this morning after complaining of chest pains.

Staring down the crips

A witness at murder trial of "Shitty" aka Eliot Wilkes takes the stand, and shows her mettle

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Probable murder victim found on elementary school playground

Cheers!

All kids of gay people getting married in DC today

How could this not pass before?

HB 962 would make child neglect a felony. Who could have voted against that?!

Also, a bill aims to extend the shield law for professional journalists to unpaid student reporters. "Del. Sandy Rosenberg, D-Baltimore City, sponsored the bill. He said he’d ultimately like to see shield protections go farther, perhaps to cover high school journalists as well as unpaid bloggers."

RJR: Drug dealers going to source

CP: "Evidence mounts that foreign sources, including the Los Zetas cartel, deal directly with Baltimore traffickers"

Pub-crawl-stabbing story draws huge reader response at Sunspot.

A stabbing at 3 a.m. this morning in Mt Vernon. And a man shot in the leg, though leg-shootings are so common it seems barely newsworthy

This week's three murders. Apparently it's been the quietest January and February ever!

Jessamy in A-town arguing for tougher gang laws. Whatever.

Sex slaves in MoCo

"The Supreme Court suggested Tuesday it will strike down U.S. cities’ outright bans on handguns."

What the? Family relocated after city trash truck crashes into their home

City and Press

Isn't this interesting? The Baltimore City and Press, a beautifully designed web site of Baltimore news.. developed in Canada!
Also on Twitter.
No ads... what do you suppose their revenue model is?

William Raymond Porter, 49, the Hess station owner shot Monday morning during a robbery in Towson, has died.

Guilty Verdict in Toddler Starvation Case

Queen Antoinette, Trevia Williams and Marcus Cobbs were found guilty today of second-degree murder and first-degree child abuse resulting in death.
More from the Sun, JZ

In other miserable child-abuse news, police say a two-month-old was airlifted last night to Children’s National Medical Center in Washington D.C. after suffering fractures to his skull during an argument between his parents.

Assault in Tuxedo Park

From the community's newsletter:

„I'm sorry to say we had a bad incident last night.

„A man was walking his dog at 12:30 a.m. [Mar. 1, 2010] at the intersection of Gladstone and Summit. He was assaulted from behind by a man wearing a ski mask, who hit him over the head repeatedly with a gun. Two people from a nearby house heard the altercation, turned on their porch light and came to his assistance. There was a brief struggle; then the assailant fled. The police were notified, the man who was assaulted was given medical care and now has staples in his head where he was lacerated.

Some tips useful in any neighborhood from the Evergreen news-letter:

Several Points

1) If you hear something occurring, check it out. Putting on the porch
lights probably helped and, certainly, coming to his aid stopped the
attack. Call 911 as soon as you know there is a problem. The assaulted
man was disoriented after the attack and we are grateful to the
neighbors who came to his assistance.

2) We know crimes tend to recur within a rather wide area. It is wise
to walk with someone whenever possible and, if you can, have some way
to let people know when you need help. [always carry a phone]

3) A street light in the vicinity was out. If you have a street light
that is not working ... report all the lights needing attention. [call 311]

and we would add, let your neighborhood listverv/ association/ Facebook group know when something happens.

Grounded

Ground rent scandal co-conspirator cops a plea.

Teen missing, woman found bound, shooting in Towson

Police and family are searching for missing 14-year-old DaJah Johnson, left, of N. Bethel Street, gone since Friday.

A 19-year-old woman found bound with tape and shot in the neck

An employee and victim of attempted robbery shot in the face-- in Towson!

Raymond Taylor's prison escape began with a lawsuit over payment for drawings of Shrek and Garfield.

Hermann: Espinoza murder in Mexico might complicate appeals process for Falstaff triple murder. And look, links to stories about the case are back

State budget analysts say MD needs to reduce its prison population.

No good deed...

School cop moonlighting as basketball coach is in hot water after showdown with gang members in Carver High gym. Seems he stood his ground against the possible assailants, but his paperwork was messed up and now he's facing internal charges

Lock your doors when you go through New Northwood at 2 a.m.... man shot during an attempted carjacking

This just in: No extra drinkie on the weekend

Delegate Jill P Carter to her FB peeps: "HB 429 that would enable downtown bars to remain open until 4 a.m., Fri-Sun, has been Withdrawn. Opposition at this morning's delegation meeting was overwhelming! ................I'm totally in favor of the medical marijuana bill."

Furl-uh-oh Con Found

West Virginia state police captured Raymond Taylor in Martinsburg.
WBAL radio says "Authorities now believe that the convicted murderer who walked out of a prison in Baltimore yesterday was posing as another inmate who was scheduled to be released."

Don't bring your guns to school

School police officer accidentally opens fire at North Avenue headquarters.

Horrors, mysteries, misdeameanors

A man dead after a triple shooting in Sandtown-Winchester, 1542 N. Fulton Ave.
Also a man shot in the chest this morning at Stonewood and Northwood Rds.

Remember the three children murdered in Fallston? The father and brother of the convicted killers, Victor Espinoza, was killed in Mexico by his wife. Will she now be able to shed some light on what happened? (Unfortunately all of the Sun's story links are now non-functional, but here's some backstory from the Post.)

Duuuude. Testimony on the medical marijuana bill scheduled for today. Also under consideration: a bill to keep bars open until 4 a.m. Passed: a bill to ban BPA from baby bottles and sippy cups.
Plus, bitching homophobes & lauding lesbians

Also, the "Senate has approved legislation to ban strip searches for most misdemeanor or traffic offenses." Most?

The world's best-named strip club, Chubbies, has been shut down for a year; their lawyer says the penalty excessively hefty

What a day.

More on the tragic murder of security guard James Ball

Mother of Javon Thompson testified she starved him to death to rid him of a demon, and a former cult member testifies the group had her committed to a mental hospital hide the killing.

A guilty plea in the murder of 18-year-old Steven Parrish in 2008-- he was allegedly killed by a fellow Blood for sending text messages "that were gay in nature."

A win for Doug Gansler: the Supreme Court re-instated a Maryland man’s child sexual abuse conviction, holding that police need wait only 14 days to re-interrogate a suspect who is released from custody after invoking his right to counsel.

Butterfingers! A prisoner mistakenly released. Raymond Taylor, 26, was serving life for shooting a woman and her daughters.

The police commissioner asked the liquor board to shut down the Velvet Rope club after mayhem erupted there last night

The mysterious murder of a teacher at the Cheltenham Youth Facility

... and speaking of youth, Kristyn Breeds, a 29-year-old teacher in the 'Deener, admitted to sleeping with a 17-year-old student and received probation.

The worst strip bar name ever

Fells Point strip bar chubbies is in trouble again, meanwhile former commish Norris to former mayor Dixon...it's not your fault

Plastered & Fossilized

Fredneck man found dead in an alley, drunk friends questioned.

...AG Doug Gansler writes a letter to MoCo Senator saying he thinks that the Court of Appeals could rule to recognize same-sex marriages from other states. His sentiments don't carry any weight-- there's no case in front of the court about out-of-state marriages, and at last visit the court was pretty clear that marriage exists expressly for "the attendant link to fostering procreation." (sorry, grandma!) Perry v. Schwarzenegger has a better shot with the Supreme Court than any hypothetical gay suit would with our fossilized bench.
Speaking out for civil rights is always nice, though, right?

Trials & Tribulations

TDR's Brandon Kearney reports from the toddler cult-murder trial

CP cover story this week is the tale of trial for the murder of Robert Long

Four murders in this week's Ink

Remember Robert Simels, the lawyer-to-the-drug-stars who makes the Wire's Maury Levy look like a stand-up guy? The latest wrinkle: he co-owns a condo with a drug dealer's mom.

Down in A-town, legislators seek to expand sex-offender laws

Is spending a crime?

The city's growing budget deficit is not a crime, or is it?

Cult starvation case "promises to be among the strangest the Baltimore City Circuit Court has ever seen"

A stabbing in the Towson Town Mall food court!
and also two stabbings on the West side

State of the city= broke

"Real Estate Developers Push To Rebrand Murder Heights Neighborhood Of Baltimore"

Self-policing

A little change may be in the offing for the way the BPD polices itself

Wrongedy Wrong Wrong!

This is an outrage!
It's our judiciary-- we pay for it!
But
a new rule, reportedly likely to pass, would allow courthouses to ban all cell phones and cell communications, and possibly laptops.
[wonder what this bill is called?]
Mark my words-- cell-phone blocking technology in the courthouse is next!

Protest

Sat. protest lead by Chris Taylor the community activist whose arrest was controversial ends up in front of police headquarters.

Mayor Pleads for Calm

... as furniture piles up in parking places, feuds erupt.
Be bold SRB! Send out the bulk trash trucks!

Dirty Deeds

Canton "snow shovel" rapist Donald Vaughn tied by DNA to 4th attack

Dundalk man gets 5 years for soliciting cyber-teenager, and a Sharpsburg man pled guilty to possessing child porn

Hermann: Crazy John's of the Block is as crazy as ever

Owner of Columbia's Red Parrot Bistro accused of harboring illegal workers

Details on 19

Relative gets stabbed by abusive boyfriend trying to save his aunt.

Lawyers, Lasers, Cell-Phone Jammers

QTD: "I ... have a great contract. Bless the lawyers." - FHB III

Cell-phone jamming technology will be tested today at Cumberland. The Senate passed the Safe Prisons Communication Act in October and is likely to pass the House; the bill requires that blocking technology not interfere with communications outside of the prison. More on the debate here, and info on how cell phone jamming works

"New Lasers Fight Crime, Martians"

And behold: the Ink with no murders.

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Police Tweet, "STABBING - 706 N LAKEWOOD AVE, ADULT MALE STABBED IN THE NECK HAS DIED AT JOHNS HOPKINS,1 ARREST."

Copping a plea

New details on how a policer supervisor's attempt to help a drug deal turned out badly

Sixty-one-year-old accused stalker shot by police kills himself in jail

Wins in Tort Court

Baltimore jury awards single mom $821K from Wal-Mart in false-arrest suit

"A Reisterstown teenager internationally known for never having aged past infancy has been awarded $250,000 after a Baltimore city jury found she was inappropriately restrained at Johns Hopkins Hospital"