February 6

Rod J. Rosenstein today announced a seven-count federal grand jury indictment charging four Baltimore men with the murder of Carl Stanley Lackl on July 2. All four defendants are eligible for the death penalty.

Ink: Three murders this week, 16 so far this year.

Cockysville murder kid Nicholas Browning's aunt was also killed by domestic gunfire.
Like, duh: "Experts said easy access to guns was a common thread in cases where children kill their parents."

MdTA Police are preparing murder charges against Stephen Todd Nelson, 37, who police believe threw his 3-year-old son off the Key Bridge into the Patapsco River on Sunday. Nelson is reportedly in a coma after ingesting household cleaners.

"Baltimore City’s broad and complex parking ticket investigation intensifies"

Algebra Project students arrested, lectured. Teacher: arrests were part of the plan.

February 5

An unidentified man was found at about 9 a.m. Saturday morning, lying on his back shot to death in the 1600 block of W. Lafayette Avenue.

An 18-year-old was shot in the upper body after getting off of a (what else?) MTA bus in Windsor Mill.

WTF?! "Steven Vernarelli claims he was walking to Johns Hopkins Hospital in October, when he was stopped for no reason and sodomized with his own paper money by a Baltimore City police officer."

El Jizz: "Undercover Maryland Troopers Pose As Hitmen & Prevent Hundreds Of Murders!"

Judge Kaye Allison sentenced Davon Pearson, 20, of the 800 block of Vine Street today to life in prison for conspiracy to commit murder, 30 years in prison, concurrent, for second-degree murder and 20 years, consecutive, for use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence. A Baltimore City jury convicted Pearson December 10, 2007. Details:

Late in the evening on August 2, 2006 Pearson met up with an associate only identified as “Bobby” in the area of the 400 block of East Lynn Avenue. Witnesses testified that “Bobby” asked Pearson to “take care of a problem for him” in exchange for an ounce of cocaine. Just past midnight, “Bobby” provided Pearson with a .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun. Pearson then followed the Victim, Howard Jones, onto the 2600 block and shot him in the back of the head. Mr. Jones died on the street. Multiple eye-witnesses identified him as Mr. Jones’ killer.

At the trial, Pearson, his fiancé and mother testified that he had been at a neighborhood candlelight vigil protesting violence among young men and then later at his fiancé’s house in Baltimore County at the time of the murder. The jury rejected Pearson’s alibi. Assistant State’s Attorney E. Wesley Adams of the Homicide Division prosecuted this case.

Prosecutors in Carroll County are appealing the dismissal of charges against the Bowling Brook counselors who were charged with reckless endangerment in last year's death of Isaiah Simmons.

Bowzer from Sha Na Na wants to ban imposter bands.

The GM of WYPR went on-air this morning to explain the station's recent deSteinering. Meanwhile, listeners are puh-issed.
("I've got WAMU on, right now. It's FREAKING RINGING THROUGH MY WHOLE HOUSE. THE WINDOWS ARE RATTLING. I CAN'T MAKE IT FREAKING LOUD ENOUGH. Hello, Kojo!")

February 4

More on the murder of the Browning family, and the vigil that was held for them last night.

Someone might have thrown a child off of the Key Bridge. Or they might not have. Nobody really knows yet.

Two people were murdered at a Uno Chicago Grill in Largo right around the time the Giants scored their first touchdown.

A pizza-delivery man was beaten in Edgewood on Saturday night and is in serious condition at Shock Trauma.

The man charged with killing Finksburg video store manager Gary Hatfield was described as depressive, reclusive, weird, and bad at tying his shoes.

In the Blotter: A shooting near The Block, a lack of information about the man killed on Federal St., some former-employee aggression, and a wheelchair joyride in the halls of Perry Hall Middle School.

February 3

The four bodies found in Cockeysville appear to be Towson real estate and corporate lawyer John Browning, his wife Tamara, and two of the couple's three sons. The third son, Nicholas Waggoner Browning, right, "found" the bodies when he arrived home at 5 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, and has been charged as an adult with four counts of first-degree murder.

The city's first murder of February occurred in the 1600 block of E. Federal St. yesterday morning at 10 a.m.

Police are looking for Ellis D. Johnson. Johnson and three minors (who are in custody) allegedly beat a cop who tried to bust up a deal at an apartment in the 1500 block of Pennsylvania Ave. on January 14. Officer William Olsen is recovering at home, and will need hip surgery.

"Every one of us knew that Mr. Alder was very likely to physically harm, even murder, any of us and our families at any time." Yep, you sure got that one right.

Michael Ryan Anderson was arrested this morning for the murder of Finksburg video store manager Gary L. Hatfield on January 26.

Chris Perkins -- who resigned as director of Maryland's juvenile detention facilities on December 13 after a City Paper investigation into past accusations of child abuse -- claims he has evidence to prove his innocence but never got the chance to present it in court.

More info on the misuse of bupe.

February 2

Fox reports that a man was shot to death in the 1600 block of Federal Street in East Baltimore this morning, soon after 10 a.m.

Four bodies, two teenage boys and a man and a woman, were found in a house in Cockeysville in the 10000 block of Powers Avenue.

Bealefeld: the officer who fired the shots that killed Edward Lamont Hunt has been suspended with pay.

Convictions, pleas and sentences for perps who distributed steroids, child porn and crack, enslaved a 14-year-old and committed social security fraud are all in a day's work for the U.S. Attorney's office.

Marc Steiner Canned!

It's true! Wow, didn't see that one coming!
("Personnel issues are always very difficult"... sounds like he ticked off the wrong person!)
More from the Sun.

The best January since before crack

Last month was the least homicidal January in Baltimore since 1978.

Now is not the time to sit back and bask in six months' worth of accomplishment," Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III said in an interview yesterday. "Now is the time to push harder."

Annals of Law

NYker: Baltimorean Brian Nichols went on a murder spree in Georgia. But three years and $1.2 million+ later, the death-penalty case still hangs in limbo.

Three Life Sentences for Double-Murderer

Judge Charles G. Bernstein sentenced Abdul Kareem Alvez-el, 23, of the 500 block of Richwood Road to three consecutive life sentences, followed by three consecutive 20- year sentences for his November 9, 2007 convictions of two counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted first-degree murder and three counts of use of a handgun in commission of a crime of violence. This sentence is the maximum sentence allowed by law. Details from the SA's office: (edited)

On February 2, 2006 at 9:45 p.m. Ricky Medley, 19, Martrell Brown, 16, and Quinton White, 17 were at a Sunoco Gas Station in the 500 block of East Cold Spring Lane. While there, Medley and Brown got into a physical altercation with Raynard Bowles. Following the fight, all three got back into a car driven by Ricky Medley and attempted to drive away. Abdul Alvez-el produced a handgun and began firing at the moving vehicle, striking Medley in the torso and Brown in the head. Both victims died of their injuries. The vehicle continued to the 800 block E. Cold Spring Lane where Quinton White was able to reach the steering wheel from the back seat and crashed it into a wall to avoid hitting any other vehicles. Quinton White suffered a broken arm as a result of the accident.

Assistant State’s Attorney David Grzechowiak of the Homicide Division prosecuted this case.

Freakonomics does The Wire, episode 4

I missed this one yesterday, but Sudhir Venkatesh and his gang of merry pranksters are back for episode four. The thugs pose a question to Freakonomics readers:

“I want them to tell us whether Marlo will kill Omar, or the other way around,” said Orlando, picking at his teeth, like a Southern gentleman on his front porch. “I want to see how smart they are.”

“Yeah,” Flavor pushed on. “And I want them to say exactly how it’s going to go down. Because you know what this whole thing is leading up to … Good versus Evil — if you can tell the difference around here.”

February 1

Darrell Holmes was the boy who was killed on Penrose Ave. on Wednesday, and his 12-year-old cousin has been charged with manslaughter.

Edward Lamont Hunt, killed by a police officer Jan. 24, was unarmed, and a witness says he was shot in the back while he was walking away.

The MTA9 is now the MTA6, and lawyers for the remaining six defendants want to exclude everything but the kitchen sink from the kids' trial.

"To Baltimore City bailiffs, Olufemi Obua is an impatient, rude courthouse visitor who assaulted a security officer after refusing to follow orders. To Obua’s family, he’s the victim of a 'brutal beating' at the hands of courthouse security officers."

Baltimorean Charles Christopher Furth, 46, pleaded guilty today to distributing child pornography by computer.
WTF?!: "Furth stated that he has about 5,000 still images of child pornography and six movies of minors from ages one years old and up."

Yeah. Like that's the only house in Hampden with machine guns and grenades.

Usually check cashing joints steal money from the people, but not this time.

Recovery houses should be safe and secure. Too bad they didn't figure that out before the Remington shootings of 2005.

Tyrone Powers wants us to snitch. Not just on dealers and murderers, but also on politicians, cops, and preachers.

Officials say the Violence Prevention Unit for ex-cons is already working.

Farther Afield
Three people robbed a Cockeysville McDonald's on Tuesday night, and one of them has been arrested.

A HoCo Circuit Court judge rejected a plea deal for Eduardo Raul Morales-Soriano, a drunk driver who was to be sentenced for killing two people.

A security camera in Takoma Park caught an attempted abduction.

Stolen gas and shoes in Hagerstown.

In AAC, Mama chased down a perv.

Victim Impact Statement from Bryant Curtis Jones' widow

Prosecutors read an impact statement on behalf of Bryant Curtis Jones' wife at the hearing for Jamal Charles and Dwayne Drake, the two teenagers who killed Jones when he asked them to leave his daughter's sweet-16 party in 2006.

My name is Alisa Deneen Torbit-Jones. I am the widow of the late Bryant Curtis Jones.

While trying to keep the peace and safety of his family, Bryant was fatally shot on April 14th, 2006 at our daughter Tamirra's sixteenth birthday party by Jamal Charles. Jamal Charles was encouraged to shoot my husband by his friend, Dwayne Drake. They both were asked to leave our home because they were being disruptive. Before they left, they insisted on their refund of $1.00 for their entrance into the party for Tamirra. Although their entrance fee was refunded, they still were not satisfied, became extremely combative verbally, and the end result was my husband being shot three times, once in the head. My family and I were with my husband when he died from these gunshot wounds at Shock Trauma.

I am angry, mad, and most of all enraged. I have lost my friend, and it hurts. Some days are better than others, and I am trying to overcome the hate that has consumed me. Bryant and I had a bond that no one could break. We have known each other since we were fifteen years old, and had been married for four years. I never imagined that I would have to see my loved one die so tragically and violently. I feel like I am in a dream, as well as a nightmare. It doesn't feel real, doesn't sound real, but everyday that I don't see him; I know that it is real.

When you killed my husband, you never thought about how I or the children would survive. Bryant was a major contributor and he provided so we wouldn't have to sacrifice. Now that he is gone, it is very hard to make ends meet.

Bryant always liked to help people. He was a family oriented individual, and an excellent electrician. He was a good man, a beloved son, a devoted father to his children, and a trustworthy friend. He has a grand-daughter that will never know his love, see his smile, or hear his voice.

I am not the only one who mourns for Bryant. His senseless murder left six children without a father - Derrick, Tamirra, Kourtney, Bryant, Darryl and Danielle. His grief stricken father Charles, who eight months later would lose his wife Linda, Bryant's mother who said her heart was broken because she had lost her oldest baby. A dedicated brother Charles (when you saw one, you always saw the other). Two sisters Evette and Danyell (Evette passed away 3 months after their mother's death). My husband had one grandmother, loving godparents, many in-laws and a host of nephews, nieces, cousins, relatives and friends. As long as we live we will never forget Bryant Curtis Jones nor will we ever forget Jamal Charles and Dwayne Drake who took him from us so violently and sudden.

We will always love and miss Bryant.

I feel that Jamal Charles and Dwayne Drake should be severely punished for taking Bryant's life. They should do the full time given to them. Bryant's life was worth more than a $1.00. Jamal Charles and Dwayne Drake should at least serve the age my husband was at the time of his senseless murder. Bryant was 42 years old. Nothing less with possibility of parole.

Conviction for Murder of 16-Year-Old Marcus McDowell

A Baltimore City jury convicted Rasul M. Brown, 23, of the 800 block of Gilrubin Court today of second-degree murder, two counts of use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence, two counts of wear/carry/transport a handgun and first degree assault. The jury reached its verdict after deliberating for two hours today following four days of testimony. Judge John A. Howard scheduled sentencing for April 3, 2008 at which time Brown could face a maximum possible prison term of 98 years. Details:

On January 8, 2007 at approximately 8:00 p.m. police responded to the 5100 block of Harford Road for a shooting. Upon arrival, police discovered Marcus McDowell, 16, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to the head and upper torso. McDowell is transported to Johns Hopkins Bayview Hospital, where he is pronounced dead. Witnesses testified at trial that Brown shot McDowell after McDowell rushed to the scene to help a friend who was involved in an altercation with Brown.

Brown is being held at the Detention Center without bail.

Assistant State’s Attorney Lisa Phelps of the Homicide Division prosecuted this case.

Quote of the Day

Broadwater: "A dozen protestors marched Wednesday outside the Baltimore City Juvenile Justice Center, demanding prosecutors drop all charges against the so-called 'MTA 9'"
Said Quentin Whaley Sr., 54, the father of one of the accused teens, "If someone spit in your face, what would you do? This isn’t 1857. This is 2008. We won’t be chattel property.”

Sentences in "Sweet 16" Murder

At a hearing today, Judge Charles G. Bernstein sentenced Jamal Charles, 17, of the 4000 block of Edmonston Ave. to 50 years in prison, 30 years for second-degree murder and a consecutive 20 years for use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence. Bernstein also sentenced Dwayne Drake, 19, of the 3400 block of Dolefield Ave. to 40 years in prison, 30 years for second degree murder, a consecutive 10 years for use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence and a concurrent three years for wear/carry/transporting a handgun. Details:

Judge Bernstein called this case “extremely difficult” “tragic” and “senseless” and that his sentence “must express society’s outrage” that a “good man, a family man, a working man” has been taken from society and his family forever, shot in his own home.

Charles received the maximum sentence he faced under law: 50 years. Drake faced a maximum of 53 years in prison.

On April 14, 2006 Bryant Jones, a father of six, was shot and killed at his daughter’s sweet 16 birthday party. Several witnesses testified Drake and Charles were acting up and arguing at the party and that they both smelled of alcohol. Mr. Jones asked them repeatedly to leave stating that they were disrespecting his wife, his daughter and his house. The defendants left the house but turned and came right back demanding the dollar back that they had paid to get into the party. As they argued with Mr. Jones, Dwayne Drake said to Jamal Charles, “Show him how we take care of business in the hood.” Drake handed Charles an object. At which point Charles fired several shots at Mr. Jones, striking him in the arm, chest, and head.

Assistant State’s Attorney Rita Wisthoff-Ito of the Homicide Division prosecuted this case.

January 31

A 16-year-old boy was fatally shot in the face yesterday afternoon in a rowhouse near Bentalou Elementary.

Jose Bassat was found guilty of murdering Mister George.

Kevin Klink pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, and faces 13 years for killing Robert Brazell Jr. during a fight at Mt. Hebron High School in Ellicott City last year.

If I'm reading this story correctly, then Demarco Edward Brown is being charged with attempted murder for encouraging someone else to shoot a bicyclist in the legs. The "someone else" has not been ID'd.

In the Blotter: a home invasion, a McDonald's robbery, and an assault of a drunk.

A HarCo teenager was suspended and charged after leaving a gun, machete, and pocketknife in his car at school.

Charles Redfearn was charged with first-degree assault after an attack in Arbutus on Jan. 25 that involved fists, a knife, and hitting an old man with his own cane.

Delegate Talmadge Branch says we can't be trusted with Tasers.

Evening

Crazy barricade situation this afternoon in the 1700 block of Harlem Park Avenue on the west side. Man shot, tear gas used, schools on lockdown. Police called it a "home-invasion robbery gone very, very bad."

.... and the first police-involved shooting of '08 happened around noon at Northern Parkway and McClean Boulevard, a suspect was killed and no police were injured.

"Goof on the Roof" Ron Stach was ordered at a hearing to pay $750 or remain in jail for a year for failing to pay $43,000 in child support over 18 years. A good deal for Ron, for the kids, not so much.

Shot officer David Hare has organized a rally to support the Baltimore Police Memorial on Friday night starting at 5 p.m. at Max's on Broadway.

January 30

More info and a video on the shooting death of 16-year-old Dundalk resident Joshua Gibson.

Four murders in this week's Ink, including details on the domestic abuse of Lisa Holley.

The family of Antonio Martinez is angry, and the AAC cop who allegedly killed him in a hit-and-run hasn't been charged.

It's been a year since Sintia Mesa's beaten and naked body was found in the trunk of her car, and police are still actively investigating her murder.

Yesterday, there was a memorial service for Cecelia Brown Turner, one of the two people who was murdered in an Annapolis apartment a few weeks ago.

A 66-year-old editorial assistant at the Sun was attacked with a metal pole while he waited for a safe and reliable MTA bus in the 5600 block of The Alameda.

Javaughn Norman Adams, the guy who shot up Westfield Annapolis mall in 2006, got an extra year of jail time for stealing a puppy.

Three people testified against Monti Fleming, who is on trial for killing Shaun Powell in Columbia. Fleming is also charged with attempted murder in an unrelated shooting a week before Powell's death.

Are gangs of territorial Jews running amok in Randallstown?

The HarCo Guardian Angels are scheduled to start their patrols soon.

Night Update

Sun: "A month before Vernice Harris allegedly killed her daughter [Bryanna] by giving her methadone and beating her, the mother asked a Baltimore Department of Social Services caseworker for help but was turned away." Here's an earlier story on the case.

In the county, convicted sex offender Michael B. Martin, 46, was sentenced to 40 years in prison Monday for trying to hire a fellow inmate to kill a developer and to set fire to the house of a woman who had told people at her church about his sex abuse case.
(thanks non)

"Md. lawmakers consider scrap dealer law to address stolen copper"

Benjamin Evans of Annapolis was arrested Monday and charged with sexually abusing a 13-year-old friend of his granddaughter.

A Carroll County circuit court judge has dropped all charges against five former Bowling Brook staff members accused of causing the death of student/inmate Isaiah Simmons.

25 Years for Man Who Pushed Woman into Traffic

Judge John M. Glynn sentenced Charles Bostic, 62, of the 1800 block of West Pratt Street to 25 years in prison today. Bostic pled guilty to attempted second-degree murder November 21, 2007. Details:

On March 3, 2007 Bostic and the victim, a 54-year old woman, were walking in the 200 block of North Warwick Avenue when Bostic pushed her into the path of an oncoming vehicle. The driver could not avoid hitting the woman and called police. One eyewitness described Bostic’s actions as throwing the victim like “throwing a bag of trash.” Police apprehended Bostic one block away on Wheeler Avenue.

The woman suffered severe brain trauma, a damaged spinal cord, bruised ribs and a broken arm. She remains in a long-term care facility unable to care for herself. She can not speak, walk or write and is expected to remain in this condition for the rest of her life.

Assistant State's Attorney Kathleen Copsey of the Felony Family Violence Division prosecuted this case.