Afternoon

After some morning wonkiness at the Examiner site, Luke has his May recap posted. It's a good article, and Dr. Sharfstein's comment ("Homicide is the leading cause of death among young men in the city. When you're talking about that many people being killed, it's absolutely a public health problem.") is much more insightful than the head-in-the-sand comment in 2005 by then-Health Commissioner Beilenson ("Baltimore is actually a very safe city if you are not involved in the drug trade."). Why don't you tell that to Anna Sowers, Pete?

Mr. B. always seems to come up with these one-two punches on the days of his murder recaps, and today is no exception. He takes a look at five women who work in the same office at the Baltimore City District Court, all of whom have lost at least one male family member to the city's homicide problem.

I hate it when they bury two news stories in one link: There was a knife fight on a bus in Annapolis, and police have ID'd a suspect in the murder of 21-year-old mother-to-be Christen Hawkins.

June 4

Four murders in the Ink, and a really depressing quote from a now-dead witness who was trying to do the right thing: "I know how my brother Brandon is and I know how my homeboys is and like I said in my statement that something has to be done before it get any crazier or somebody actually get killed and the next time somebody probably won't make it out the hospital."

There's a bit more info about the Woodmere murder that happened early yesterday morning, and Derrell E. Smith was ID'd as the man who was killed on Clifton Ave. on Monday night.

It's gotta be kind of embarrassing to be arrested for drug dealing and only have $24. If I was in prison with her, I'd totally be calling her stuff like Dozens of Dollars Ashley and 24 Buck Tucker.

This should be interesting. The BPD is asking crime victims how well the police handled their cases. If Commissioner Fred actually does something useful with this information, he will move a notch higher in my already high opinion of him.

Man Indicted for Shooting Gal in Front of his Mom

Today the Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Montreal Proctor, 18, of the 2000 N. Bentlou for attempted murder and other counts on Monday, June 2, 2008.

Court documents allege that Proctor is responsible for a shooting incident in the unit block of S. Ellwood Avenue on May 7, 2008. The victim traveled with the defendant’s mother to pick up her children including the defendant in East Baltimore. The defendant instructed his mother to stop in an unknown alley. The victim exited the vehicle, Proctor ordered her to get back in the vehicle, she refused, and an altercation began. Court documents allege during the altercation, Proctor shot the victim in the head. The victim was treated at Johns Hopkins Hospital and released. An arraignment is scheduled for June 30, 2008 before Judge Michel W. Pierson, Room 329, Courthouse East.

sheeze, i don't even cuss in front of my mom!

June 3

We all know that dropping out of school in Baltimore is bad for your health (unless you're a teacher, in which case staying in school could be detrimental), but who knew that sitting on the porch was so dangerous?

In the time it took me to write today's post, the Sun published an article about another murder. Someone was killed at about 3:00 this morning in the 5400 block of Crismer Ave. in the Northern (or would that be Northwestern?).

And wow again. MJB just sent me a really disturbing article from the Post reporting that 49-year-old Calvert County resident Ricky Joseph Salvatore got all hepped up on beer, weed and PCP, listened to the song "41 Shots" on the radio, then fatally shot his younger brother.

Damn. I didn't realize that Shannon Dudley got stabbed in the heart. That's brutal. Of course, the two kids who were charged claim they didn't do it.

Wise words from Annapolis murder victim Jerome Hughes' grandmother during an emotional sentencing where Dupree Rashard Williams got 17 years: "You have to forgive. If you don't, it's like a cancer. It's time for all of you to grow up."

Someone in Baltimore is making some serious threats against the folks at CASA de Maryland.

Convicted car thief William Spessard escaped from a work detail yesterday with the old "I gotta pee" routine. Haven't these prison guards ever watched any movies? OF COURSE he was trying to escape. Like, duh.

Today is a rough news day for city workers. DPW employee Melvin Talbot was arrested for allegedly selling smack while he was working on Pulaski Highway, and a Public Works supervisor was arrested at the salt dome (or is that Salt Dome?) on Falls Rd. this morning for allegedly stealing water from a distributing company.

I wonder who plundered the Thunder from Down Under?

Pasadena Purses Pilfered! (I totally missed my calling as a headline writer for the New York Post.

Did Natasha Terresa Fowlkes lead the Edgewood attack that paralyzed Gregory Simmons, or was she innocently in the wrong place at the wrong time? Only God and the jury know for sure.

Hey Luke, where's your monthly recap? There are still a lotta dead people in May who need to be acknowledged, even if WJZ says this has been the least homicidal May since the '70s.

Man indicted for Kidnapping

From the SA's office:

The Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Christopher Johnson, 22, of the 5600 block of McClean Boulevard for kidnapping on Friday, May 30, 2008.

Court documents allege that on May 2, 2008, Johnson forced two victims into a vehicle at a bus stop located at Northern Parkway and McClean Boulevard. They were then driven to an apartment in the 5600 block of McClean Boulevard and held against their will. It is alleged that Johnson thought a Playstation 3 game had been stolen from the same apartment by the two victims.

This isn't the kidnapped teens from April, that was Catonsville. Nor does it have to do with the police-involved shooting at the same intersection in January. I'm not sure I've heard of this case before.

Murders Revisited - new post

The new "Murders Revisited" is now posted. I'm trying to find a clever way to highlight the sentence for Jason Blake, but it's really just another pathetic example of the failures of the city legal system. 358 days. Hooray, Baltimore!

June 2

Two worthless pieces of crap teenagers were arrested for stabbing aspiring barber Shannon Dudley at a bus stop downtown last week. Dudley is still in critical condition at Shock Trauma.

Father Worthless piece of crap Mark Castillo cried like a little girl (one who's still alive, that is) when he was told that city prosecutors were seeking like without parole.

21-year-old Jessup resident Christen Hawkins was three months pregnant when she was murdered.

There was a double shooting (non-fatal, so far) yesterday in the Southwestern. Otherwise, news reports indicate that everyone in Baltimore got along smashingly well over the weekend.

Uh, yeah. Never mind about that last comment.

Okay, these guys are totally awesome for driving a boxful of pipe bombs to the police, but they're totally fucking crazy for driving a boxful of pipe bombs to the police.

Goddamned immigrant guns, stealing the job of killing from our native Maryland guns.

May 31

Fascinating! FBI agents have searched the home of MD Senate Budget Committee Chair Ulysses Currie.

"Three people were shot, including one by police, during a spate of unrelated violence late Thursday and early yesterday in the northeastern and downtown areas"

Broadwater reports that new charges were filed last week against Brandon Grimes; the alleged cop-killer also allegedly assaulted a jail employee. And he also allegedly has a girlfriend-- how depressing is it to hear that if you're a single guy ISO love!

Do I detect cynicism, Ms. Linskey? "Christopher Shaw has avoided prosecution three times. In November, prosecutors dropped a drug-distribution case. Four years ago, they dropped a charge of murder; two years before that, it was an assault charge that was dropped. But this time, prosecutors say, it will be different."

Never a dull moment at Casa del Garmin: 17 years for Hollins Market hair-ron; jail for a crooked yearbook salesman; an MTA officer headed to the hoosegow for burning his own car. And, of course, the PDJ.

HarfCo is investigating the death of a jail inmate, 25-year-old Justin Eugene Bolden.

Brandon Grimes Not Guilty of Gun Charges

From the SA's office:

Late today a Baltimore jury found Brandon Grimes, 23, of the 800 block of Cator Avenue, Baltimore not guilty of handgun crimes, including prohibited possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, following less than 2 hours of deliberation.

The counts against Grimes originated early afternoon on April 13, 2006 after a car stop near his home. The allegations included that Grimes tossed a handgun into an adjacent yard after exiting his vehicle and entering his home on Cator Avenue, following a car stop by officers on routine patrol.

Grimes was found not guilty on all counts following a jury trial before Judge Wanda Heard.

Castillo Re-Arraignment Explained

From the SA's office:

Today the State filed formal written notice of its intent to seek an enhanced penalty of life in prison without the possibility of parole in the case of Mark Castillo, 42, of Rockville, MD.

Under Maryland law, the State must file notice of its intention to seek enhanced penalties 30 days or more before the first trial date; his trial date is Aug. 22, 2008. A decision as to whether or not to file for the death penalty has not been made at this time. That decision will be made by State’s Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy. She is reviewing all the pertinent court papers in this case and is also awaiting the court medical evaluation. There is no timeline other than meeting the 30-day requirement as mandated by law.

May 30

Michael S. Falls was arrested and charged with killing his 63-year-old girlfriend, Josephine House, in her N. Port St. home on Tuesday.

The body of 18-year-old Steven Parrish was found at a Baltimore County cemetery. Police have no motive or suspects in the murder.

21-year-old Christen Hawkins' beaten body was found behind a pool in Laurel.

Shannon Dudley is the guy who got stabbed at a bus stop on Charles and Baltimore on Tuesday night. It sounds like his only crime was waiting for the bus. Safe and reliable, baby, safe and reliable.

There's a whole lotta shootin' goin' on. And stabbin', and carjackin', and other assorted misbehavin', too! (WMAR's got video about the police shooting in the Southeastern.)

Shawn Lee Gray says 'Reds' was driving the car that hit and killed a Dundalk biker, but police say Shawn's a liar.

Damn. The Examiner isn't pulling any punches with this one: "Man accused of raping teen sentenced to 20 years - Not even her mother believed she was raped."

1.5 years for kiddie porn? Is Balto County getting soft on pervs?

The Frednecks don't put up with kiddie porn, though: Larry Cordell got 25 years for "making videos of sex acts with boys and distributing them through the Internet and elsewhere." This is his second conviction for child sex abuse. I can't even put in writing what I hope happens to his ass in prison, but let's just say it involves lit firecrackers and watermelons.

In HoCo, a kid was gonna bring a gun to school, but then he played hookie instead. In almost equally exciting news, I was gonna vacuum my house last night, but then I talked to one of my friends on the phone instead.

Crackheads and stockbrokers alike reported great excitement at the headline "Clean Air Act means healthier coke production." Then they read the story and didn't care.

There were probably some sort of fancy schmancy shenanigans going on with the sale of the Paramount Hotel on N. Howard St., but even after reading the article, I don't understand what the hell any of it means. White collar crime is, like, totally hard.

What's a Re- Arraignment?

A re-arraignment in the case of allegedly demented dad Mark Castillo is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. tomorrow before the Honorable Gale E. Rasin, Room 509, Courthouse East.

The first arraignment didn't take?

May 29

Thanks for the stories*, readers...
Ppatin notes that:
Omar Spriggs, who was injured in a quadruple shooting on May 15, has died.

Attempted murder charges against Brandon Allen have been dropped because the only witness against him was murdered a couple of weeks ago.

The ME has found that 63-year old Josephine House was strangled to death. Police say there were no other signs of foul play, and they have no potential suspect or motive.

And the trial of Brandon Grimes, alleged killer of Detective Troy Lamont Chesley Sr., has been postponed.
Here's more on the story from last year.
The P and I don't often agree, but I'm also puzzled as to why the SA's office didn't pursue the big D in this case. If there's any case that would seem to "merit" it, this would be it. (Though in a way it's an argument against the DP, because it's glaring, neon proof that the application is very inconsistent.)

More on the Tuesday-night stabbing at Baltimore and Charles. The victim, Shannon Dudley, "weighs less than 100 pounds and is passionate about being a barber."

Rodericks blogs on the 10-year sentence of the drunken Mexican who killed Marine Cpl. Brian Mathews and his lady, pointing out that while the victims' families were outraged, the 10 years is the heftiest drunk-driving sentence to be handed down in recent memory.

Enjoy troubling images? "The WBAL TV 11 News I-Team obtained photos that have never been seen by the public that raise troubling questions" about the now-closed Lower Shore Drill Academy in Wicomico County.

*I'm reprinting to put the links in "TinyUrl" so they won't be lost.

Talk amongst yourselves

I've got no time to post today, but there's lots of stuff on our favorite news sites. If you can find something interesting, share it with the BC gang down in the comments section. Snark and outrage are welcome and encouraged. Empathy doesn't hurt either.

The Baltimore FBI has a new division chief, Amy Jo Lyons. She's the third person to hold the job in three years.

Octogenarian absconder Willie Parker returned to Baltimore last week, three months after his arrest in NC.

The city wants to ban the sale of single cigars. But just the cheap ones, because rich people don't get cancer.

Sometimes, I enjoy posting links to inappropriate YouTube videos, just because I can.

Afternoon Update: Two Guilty Pleas

Ew. Timothy D. Price III, the 31-year-old former music director of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, pleaded guilty today to second-degree rape for having sex with a 12-year-old parishioner (the same age as his own kid, double yuk!). The Sun has an interview in which Price discusses healing through music.

At a hearing today, Darius Bacote, 17, of the 500 block of Orchard Street, pleaded guilty to Attempted Second-Degree Murder, Handgun Use in commission of a Crime of Violence and Wear Carry Transport. Judge Gale E. Rasin sentenced Bacote to 30 years, suspend all but 12 years, the first five without parole and five years of supervised probation upon his release. In February 2008 a motion to transfer the case to Juvenile Court was denied by Judge Rasin. Details:

Bacote [pled] to the following statement of facts. On November 9, 2007 in the 1300 block of West North Avenue at 9:24 p.m., Darius Bacote was observed firing a handgun by Officer Gregory Fisher who was operating an unmarked vehicle. The officer observed five muzzle flashes. The officer gave chase to Bacote and ordered him to the ground. Recovered from Bacote’s pocket was a .38 special handgun. Later that night Bacote provided a taped confession to Baltimore City detectives and confessed to shooting at Kevin Morgan because of an ongoing dispute. Initially officers were not certain if a victim or anyone had been struck but a hospital canvas revealed that a walk-in shooting victim shot in the 1300 block of West North Avenue location was admitted. Kevin Morgan was located at Shock Trauma suffering from a gunshot wound to his back. He was later released from the hospital and is expected to make a full recovery. Darius Bacote was 16-years old at the time of the shooting. Assistant State’s Attorney Andrew Kowalczyk prosecuted this case.

May 28

A man got stabbed last night at Charles St. and Baltimore St., and another man was shot in the back yesterday about "50 paces" from where Ronald Crowell was killed over the weekend. Good to see the Sun is using ancient Roman units of measure.

Meanwhile, the 16-year-old girl and the 19-year-old man who were shot in South Baltimore and Remington, respectively, are both still in the hospital. No word yet on whether the fine doctors at Shock Trauma and Hopkins are being credited with the city's continually dropping murder rate.

Speaking of the dropping murder rate, Anna D. reports only one murder this week, the death of Carlos Cervantes on S. Broadway near E. Pratt St. Anna's poetic closing sentence says it all: "He was dead." There've been 77 murders so far this year, compared to six for the same week last year and 116 total at this time in 2007.

Whoever writes the Examiner's Blotter isn't quite clear on the difference between a theft and a robbery.

The drug biz ain't the only business that's being hit by a 'no parking' zone on Pennsylvania Ave. Of course, something tells me the dealers will bounce back easier than the legit small business owners.

I think I remember Pembleton telling Bayliss that the only people who sleep in the interrogation room are the guilty ones. Looks like Vaughn Garris is guilty, then. (His confession certainly makes it look that way, too.)

Here's a closer look at the impounded video poker games in Baltimore County.

No Clarking Zone

The City's lawyer has filed a motion to block the reinstatement of Kevin Clark to the police commissioner's job. The C of A had deemed his firing illegal in March. O'Malley had claimed that Clark was fired because his wife threw a phone at him a decade ago; rumors had it that Clark was canned after he refused to go along with various shady goings-on in the mayor's administration.
... or maybe it was Clark who was sketchy, all along.

Not Baltimore, but I know some of you have been following the case in PGC of Keith Washington, convicted of shooting two Marlo Furniture deliverymen, Brandon Clark and Robert White. Washington was sentenced today to 45 years.

Funniest. Typo. Ever. (Here's the closeup)

Indictment in Murder of Sean Michael Henderson

Today the Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Dominic Brown, 27, of the 1300 block of Vida Drive for first-degree murder and attempted murder. Details from Jessamy's office:

Court documents allege that on May 4, 2008, Brown was responsible for shooting two victims in the 3200 block of Belair Road. The first victim, Sean Michael Henderson, 36, was escorting two females to their vehicles from an establishment in the unit block when Brown approached the trio and engaged in a brief conversation. Shortly afterward, Brown produced a handgun and began firing at the victim striking him several times. Henderson died from his injuries at Johns Hopkins Hospital. A second victim was shot in the leg and survived his injuries. An arraignment is scheduled for June 28, 2008 before Judge Sylvester Cox, Room 203 Mitchell Courthouse.

May 27

Ronald Crowell's (or Cromwell's, depending which Sun article you believe) death on Normal Ave. leaves only six men alive from five generations of their family. (The article features a good photo of his family creating a makeshift memorial.)

A 16-year-old girl was shot in the face in South Baltimore.

A 19-year-old man was shot in the head in Remington early this morning.

A tall, bald, well-dressed black man robbed a 1st Mariner Bank on N. Charles St. on Sunday morning.

Somehow, it's fitting that a Waffle House would appear in a story about a family that's this screwed up.

The Balto County PD has posted some crime prevention tips on their web site. I'd make fun of how obvious some of the tips are, but every Blotter makes it clear how many people haven't learned to take their GPS and their iPod (and Viagra) with them when they park.