Yesterday the Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Dwayne Erving, 18, of the 1700 block of N. Bond Street for first-degree murder and handgun charges. Court documents allege Dwayne Erving is responsible for "a shooting incident" on August 8, 2007 in the 2300 block of E. Oliver Street. Joseph Bryant was found suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest in the unit block of E. Oliver Street. Erving allegedly attempted to flee on foot but was apprehended in the 2100 block of Federal Street, two blocks from the murder scene. Bryant died later the same day at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Wednesday, a Baltimore City jury convicted Joseph Brinkley, 39, of the 2700 block of Baker Street of two counts of attempted first degree murder, two counts of use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence, two counts of reckless endangerment and one count of handgun on person and one count of possession of a regulated firearm. Jurors heard two days of testimony and deliberated for one hour before reaching a verdict. Attempted first degree murder carries a maximum prison term of life. The handgun counts carry maximum prison terms of 20 years. Judge Paul E. Alpert scheduled sentencing for November 7, 2007. Details:

On November 11, 2005, two men were leaving an apartment in the 3400 block of Oakfield Avenue after noticing Brinkley had a gun. The men got into a hack and started to drive away. Brinkley ran into the street after them firing nine times from a 9mm semiautomatic handgun, motive unknown. Both men were hit multiple times in the back. The driver was unharmed and drove them to find the nearest ambulance. One of the victims was in a coma from the injuries for almost three weeks and lost his lung. Initially, when interviewed by Detectives a month after the shooting, he gave a taped statement indicating he did not see who shot him. However, after Brinkley approached him and his nine-year old son a year later, the victim came forward and identified Brinkley as the shooter. This witness was the only eyewitness and his compelling and truthful testimony at trial, despite his earlier statements, helped secure this conviction.

At a hearing yesterday, Judge Lynn K. Stewart sentenced Elmer Warfield, 37, of the 2800 block of Oakley Ave. to three terms of 10 years in prison suspend all but five years, consecutive, for three separate counts of robbery. Warfield pled guilty June 21, 2007 to three counts of robbery. Shortly after 9 a.m on March 19, 2007 police apprehended Warfield after a robbery call was placed from Carrollton Bank on North Charles Street. He pled guilty to robbing $1,300 from that bank and also pled guilty to two other bank robberies: robbing $4,400 from First Mariner Bank in Canton on March 16, 2007 and robbing $2,000 from Bank of America in Federal Hill on February 16.