December 13

Theodore D. Caldwell, 29, of the 2600 block of Madison Ave., shot Monday night, and Steven Richey, 41, shot outside his home in the 3400 block of Cliftmont Ave Tuesday morning, bring the homicides YTD to 255.

Very odd story: details on the indictment of Miquel Johnson, aka Michael Jackson, accused of killing a minister with the 10,000-member Empowerment Temple, Michael Herrington Griffin, in Northwest Baltimore.

The trial of Baltimore police officer William Darrell Welch, 40, of Timonium, Maryland, is scheduled for 9:30 this morning before Judge Allen L. Schwait. The Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Welch August 23 with one count of second-degree rape and three counts of misconduct in office. If convicted of the count of rape, Welch could be sentenced to imprisonment not exceeding 20 years. Misconduct in office is a common law offense that carries a period of incarceration in whatever amount a court deems is fair and reasonable. The indictment alleges that on July 16 of this year in the Southeastern District Station Welch had sexual intercourse with a 16-year-old girl after she had been taken into custody by another officer. Welch has been out on $50k bail. Assistant State's Attorney Temmi Rollock of the Sex Offense Division will prosecute this case.
Update: Judge Allen L Schwait issued a bench warrant this morning for William Darrell Welch for failing to appear.
Correction from Mrs. J's office: The rape trial of William Welch, originally scheduled for today, has been postponed at the request of the defense until March 13, 2007. The bench warrant issued for Welch's arrest earlier today was recalled by Judge Schwait.

Ponytail and Broadwater: "Crime goes down, and so does the number of people behind bars. That's what is occurring in New York City — but not Baltimore City."

Tough trooper Eric Workman is still alive after two surgeries.

Ink: A murder previously unmentioned by the papers-- Jarmal Dailey, 19, in the 3700 block of Flowerton Road in Edmondson Village-- and the June killing of Demone Jackson was ruled as self-defense, making the YTD homicide total 253
(and the BCrime number right for being wrong).

The Baltimore City Grand Jury has indicted Jermaine Sanders, 15, of the 2100 block of E. Biddle Street for first-degree murder in connection with the December 1, 2006 fatal stabbing of his 17 year-old brother, Jason Sanders. Jermaine followed Jason Sanders from their home and stabbed the elder brother following a verbal dispute then fled the area on foot. Jason died later at Johns Hopkins Hospital. An arraignment has been scheduled January 7, 2007, Judge Gale Rasin.

"Neither side is happy" with the Dameon Woods/Smoot 2nd-degree murder verdict. Says the E of Smoot's death: it "highlighted overcrowded conditions at Central Booking, which was built to process up to 45,000 people annually, but has been used to process more than double that number."

Unfortunately, "being an asshole" is not techincally a crime.

Bob Kaufman needs kidney, stays upbeat, wants to start youth movement.
(In one version of the story he was hit with a brick by a tenant named Stephen, here it's a random idler. Wonder which is correct?)

Not your sexy kind of story, but sill important:
MD. state Ethics Commission staff auditors have "reviewed just 2,600 of the 11,800 financial disclosure statements they received for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2004."

The Gov's father-in-law Joe Curran is still at it a month before retirement, helping bust 22 work-at-home scams in Project Fal$se Hope$.

Nat'l:
Tough times for a woman at a Lavonia, GA motel who mistook a pistol for a lighter. (My, my, those crackers sure can get ugly down that way!

Dec 12 afternoon

Judge John M. Glynn sentenced Dameon Woods to 20 years in prison today. On October 12, a Baltimore City jury convicted Woods of second-degree murder, first-degree assault and second-degree assault for the May 2005 murder of Raymond Smoot, who was in custody in his cell at Central Booking and Intake.

WTF? A woman and a baby were shot to death in Laurel, PGC.

Two home-invasion robberies, one involving sexual assault, in Columbia apartments.

Dennis James Wallace, 54, of the 3400 block of Leverton Avenue, pled guilty to second-degree murder. Under terms of the plea agreement, Judge Martin P. Welch will sentence Wallace to 17 years in prison on January 30, 2007 following a pre-sentence investigation. On July 31, 1983, police discovered William Gibson's decomposed body in a trash can which was placed in a wooden clothes locker outside a rear basement apartment located at 2221 Pratt Street. The landlord had complained of a strong foul odor coming from the apartment. Police identified Wallace as a potential suspect but 10 days after the incident he was no longer seen and his whereabouts were unknown until he was located on July 28, 2005. Wallace remains held without bail at the Baltimore City Detention Center.

A professor at Frostburg State University, MacGregor O'Brien, 57, was arrested Saturday on nine counts of possessing child pornography.

Survivors Against Violence Everywhere and the Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office Family Bereavement Center will sponsor "an evening of Joy, Peace, Laughter, Sharing, and Healing" at 6 tonight at the Clarence Mitchell Jr. Courthouse, 110 N. Calvert Street, room 410 (Lexington Street entrance). There will be a presentation on "Dealing with Grief during the Holidays."

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday that spectators at a murder trial were free to wear buttons bearing a picture of the victim in front of the jury that convicted the defendant.

December 12

A state trooper in Woodlawn shot a suspect dead last night and the Trooper, First Class Eric D. Workman, was hit in the left shoulder and is critically ill and on full life support.

A suspect is on the loose after a fatal shooting of a man at W. North Avenue and Pennsylvania (254).

Seventeen-year-old murder victim Guiliano Santos (253) had "had some trouble with fighting at Harbor City High School recently and had been suspended. On Sunday night, Santos received a call from a friend to go to the area where he was shot."

Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job:
Baltimore city's is the only regional jail that can't get defendants to court on time, wreaking havoc on the whole system.
Benjamin Brown, assistant commissioner of the state Division of Pretrial Detention and Services, says that no one has filed an official complaint.

WYPR covers the gay-union oral arguments with both verbiage and streaming audio.

The County and Beyond:
Donovan Cunningham, 38, of Randallstown, was sentenced to 110 months in prison and five years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine.

RIP Mabel E. Hubbard, the first brown woman to serve as a judge of the District Court of Maryland. Hubbard genuiely enjoyed law school and was fond of sayings like "If that is true there is not a dog in Georgia" and "I wouldn't entertain my husband in his underwear in my courtroom" and "I've got to stop coming to court with my neon sign on my forehead saying 'Fool. Fool. Fool.' That way you'll be [less] inclined to spit in my face and tell me it's raining."

A County judge sentenced David F. Bias Jr., 21, and Rodney E. Gibson, 24, yesterday to 40 years in prison each in the death of 20-year-old Linton A. Wittock Jr,. who suffered a heart attack during an attempted armed robbery last year in Lansdowne.

More on suffocated child murderer Richard Spicknall II. Said his ex-wife Lisa, "a weight has been lifted from our shoulders."

Civil in Anne Arundel:
Former payroll tax supervisor Kimberly Ann Whitacre, 35, pled guilty to stealing more than $50k from her staffing-company employer in Hanover.

A federal judge has ordered the Westboro Baptist Church to pay "31-hundred-and-50 dollars" for costs and fees associated with a complaint filed by the father of a Marine whose funeral was picketed.

Da*nit, what is with these nasty old white men?! Seriously, enough!:
Perv of the day is prison guard Daniel Trader, 57, of Pocomoke City, who pled guilty to sending child pornography to an undercover officer posing as a 15-year-old girl.

MORE on Timothy Gounaris ... a former Fallston High grad says she knew he was doing an underage girl and told her parents who told the school system ... this has got to be the longest story the E has ever published!

Be True to Your School: Jada Pinkett Smith, left, donated $1 million to her alma mater, the Baltimore School for the Arts. The money will go to a new theatre named for her late classmate, Tupac.

December 11

A 17-year-old boy, Guiliano M. Santos, died after being shot last night in East Baltimore (253).

The Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Lataye Shyreise King, 16, of the 1900 block of E. 31st Street with first-degree murder and other counts. Court documents allege on November 7, 2006 Lataye King and three other persons approached Nicole Edmonds and her brother as they exited the MTA Light Rail Train at the W. North Avenue station. Nicole's brother was thrown to the ground and a jacket was pulled over his head and that as Nicole ran away, she was chased, caught and fatally stabbed. An arraignment is scheduled for January 16, 2007 before Judge Gale E. Rasin, 509 Courthouse East. Assistant State's Attorney Paul O'Connor will prosecute the case.

The Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Miquel Johnson, 25, of the 1700 block of Laurens Street on first-degree murder in connection with the stabbing death of Michael Griffin, 43. Court documents allege the stabbing occurred on November 26 in the 3900 block of Groveland Avenue following a disagreement with Johnson. An arraignment is scheduled for January 18, 2007 before Judge Rasin, 509 Courthouse East. Assistant State's Attorney Mark Cohen will prosecute this case.


City police are looking for Richard Cardell Jones, right, wanted for the assault of his 10-month-old daughter.

Child-killer Richard Spicknall, 34, left (from the AP) died after being "found unresponsive in the shower around 8 p.m. Saturday night at the Jessup Correction Institution." Spicknall murdered his two young children outside Cambridge, Md. in 1999.
The murders initiatied a state-wide outcry to merge the state's <55 domestic-violence offender databases (which still hasn't happened).

Stephen Janis has a real 'thing' for the story of Rey Rivera.
But come on now, though it's all very sad, if you were going to try to kill a 6-foot man, would you toss him off a roof?

File under Maryland News, Stop Snitching, Witness Intimidation, Iraq:
The Army Reservist who blew the whistle on Abu Ghraib, Joe Darby, is from Cumberland. He told CNN's Anderson Cooper on CBS' 60 Minutes that his accidental discovery of the naked-pyramid pics ruined his life, but he'd do it again.
He should move to the City!

Merle W. Unger Jr., convicted of shooting Officer Donald Kline in Hagtown in 1975, wants a new trial.

Int'l:
Pinochet's dead and the Chileans are freaking.

December 10

Former state pension fund manager Nathan Chapman, accused of mishandling state funds and losing billions, has won the right to be sentenced again, and could get years off.

Former Baltimore cop Steve Jones lost his job as the Police Chief of Grand Forks ND.

How touchy teacher Timothy Gounaris got a job teaching and touching teens at a Baltimore City school, and why local heads are unrollable.

A home invasion, kidnapping and robbery in Eldersburg(north of Sykesville), Baltimore County Thursday night.

Justin Uchendu, 22. of Glen Burnie was charged with first-degree assault after a road rage incident in which he allegedly followed a man to his job with a large knife.

A scary story about ground rents.

Ronald F. Dawson II, 23, of Glen Burnie was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter for the fatal shooting of AAC teenager Taveon Jawon Watson.

Police arrested Conzuella Jones, 32, of Annapolis and charged her with attempted murder. She and her male friend stabbed 37-year-old Fletcher Milburne Dec. 2.

December 9

"The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' Violent Crime Impact Team, working with the Baltimore Police Department, dismantled a 'very violent' drug organization in the Edmondson Village area ..."

From the DR [subscription required]:

An 82-year-old Baltimore woman is suing Baltimore City, the Baltimore City Police Department and one of its officers, claiming she was handcuffed, pushed and screamed at when police responded to a call at her home in March. Juanita Cantrell filed suit Friday in Baltimore City Circuit Court, alleging assault and battery, false arrest and imprisonment, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. She is seeking $1 million in compensatory and punitive damages. Cantrell also claims the officer threatened to charge her with assault if she reported the behavior, which she in fact did. Police arrived at Cantrell’s home on March 30, 2006, in response to an alleged dispute between the Cantrells and their neighbors.

Dirty Old Men:
Father Jerome F. "Jeff" Toohey Jr., 60, former chaplain of Calvert Hall College High School in Towson, got 8 months shaved off of his sentence by Baltimore County Circuit Judge John G. Turnbull II.
Victims (including CNN's Thomas Roberts) are furious.
The E on Timothy Gouranis: "When an accused sexual offender can switch school districts without so much as a heads up to his future employer, heads should roll."

One of the largest steroid stashes ever was found by customs investigators in AAC.

All sorts of robbery and stolen stuff in the blotter.

Baltimore City Solicitor Ralph Tyler will become chief legal counsel for the new O'Malley administration. From TDR {<- TDR sub. required}:

The 59-year-old Tyler ... spent 14 years in the Office of the Attorney General after moving to Maryland in 1982 [from Illinois]. As chief of litigation, he won the landmark case of Baltimore City Department of Social Services v. Bouknight before the U.S. Supreme Court. In that case, the state’s highest court held that a mother's confinement for civil contempt for failing to produce her previously abused son violated the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. The Supreme Court, however, held that the mother could not invoke that amendment to resist the court order to produce the child. In 1996, Tyler made a move to private practice at Hogan & Hartson LLP, where, among other things, he represented Maryland in an attorney'$ fee di$pute with Peter G. Angelo$ stemming from toba¢¢o litigation. In 2004, he replaced Thurman Zollicoffer Jr. as city solicitor. Tyler is a graduate of the University of Illinois, Case Western Reserve University School of Law and Harvard Law School.

Also From TDR: what's up with the Court of Appeals for next week.

PGC lawyer MeLinda Porcher Hodgson of Windsor Mill was disbarred after failing to tell her client that said client's divorce case had been dismissed because Hodgson didn't file a financial form. {<- - sub. required}

Have a Big Gay Weekend!

BCrime readers may seem conservative, but only 10 percent advocate leaving our laws the way they are now or killing the gays. Well, that's nice. The rest support some kind of gay rights, like adopting or fostering kids. Three voters thought gay couples should be able to foster kids but not adopt them. Only about a third of readers support actual marriage or civil unions.

More news:
A city officer was hit by a car while trying to make a drug arrest on MLKJrBlvd.

Three murder arrests in the blotter, including Donavan Troy White, 17, extradited from NC for the beating death of Joel Bradley; Darrell Barnes, 42, charged with strangling Shannon Jackson, 39 (in 2001, and leaving her body in a storm drain), and Tavon Caldwell, charged with shooting Dennis O'Neil, 38 on November 18; also a shooting in Franklin.

Worcester County's most wanted, Riley Collick, 28, of Stockton, turned himself in to US Marshalls downtown.

Burglary in Owings Mills, armed robbery in Pikesville and Randallstown, stolen shoes in Reisterstown.

A Reisterstown teenager, Kaseem Malik Ray, was charged as an adult with attempted murder, assault, burglary and reckless endangerment after being ID'd as the shooter in a County dispute.

Pathologist Todd Sheridan, charged with voluntary manslaughter, pled not guilty at arraignment today. The court scheduled a trial date of March 2 before Judge Albert J. Matricciani, Jr.

Frederick police are looking for David Allen Chambers, wanted for second degree murder, first degree assault, handgun violations and reckless endangerment.

December 8

Local shootings.
Travon Johnson, 23, was shot to death in the 3600 block of Brehms Lane in Belair-Edison (at least 252).

A 24-year-old man was (nonfatally) shot near Cherry Hill elementary school yesterday.

"Baltimore police pleaded yesterday to hear again from a man who called 911 and gave them promising leads in the shooting of police officer Officer Momodu Gondo (right) before hanging up" or being disconnected.

Bad Cops.
Update: Andre Stover, a former BC police officer, was indicted for conspiring with one Natalie Mack, former claims adjuster, to commit felony theft and felony insurance fraud.
And, a week or so ago, former SE officer Terre N. Shields, accused of setting her SUV on fire for the insurance money, quit the department.

Politics.
What the?! Beloved local Socialist A. Robert Kaufman has been attacked again, by another tenant! Kaufman was hit on the head with a brick by a man whose name may be Stephen.

"Awkward," that's one way to put the situation in which Dixon has "authority over the very board charged with offering an opinion on her actions."

Well, that's nice... before sailing off into the sunset, Ehrlich created a state board to oversee crime labs.

It's actually good news when pedophiles are brushed out from under the rug, right?
Perv du jour is Robert Borello, 52, left, accused of an 'encounter' with a 16-year-old volleyball player at Wicomico High.

The PGC minister, the late and Rev. Milton L. Moore, may not have been the victim of random violence, but targeted for "personal reasons." Wonder what that means...

"Montgomery County police have arrested three teenagers accused of shooting a 15-year-old boy with a pellet gun during an armed robbery in Chevy Chase. Police charged Jordan Terrazas, 17, of Silver Spring; Arian A. Butler, 16, of Silver Spring; and Christopher A. Tillman, 16, of the District with armed robbery, assault and theft."

HarfCo: "Deputy State Fire Marshals have charged 18-year-old Heather Reynolds of Whiteford, 18-year-old Lauren Dobbs of Forest Hill and an unidentified 16-year-old boy" with setting off two bombs at the Klein's grocery store.

December 7 -Pearl Harbor Day

Kenneth Megginson of Finksburg, right, was arrested for the murder-by-shooting of alleged crackhead Gregory A. Welsh. Megginson, 24, allegedly shot Welsh on his parents' fron porch in the Northeast last Halloween.

From the big E:
Baltimore's crowded courts cause very long delays
and
the mess that 'Large' number of postponed trials has us in

Baltimore's Emmett Lindsay, left, 27, has been charged with murder for killing Amy Bracht, an 18-year-old education major at Southwestern Illinois College.

Do we need a law like Maine's to protect pets? Or did Kelli Green want Robert Tomlin to set her kittens on fire?

Rodricks writes about the truck wash that employs ex-felons.

Remember this Madam, Deborah Jean Palfrey? Lives in Valet-ho, ran a local cathouse, fond of historic restoration?
Recruited UMD students with ads in the Diamondback
? Well, party's over, the Feds have seized her assets.

There's a twist, we have a new Deputy Mayor!: mayor-presumptove Dixon invented a new position, Deputy Mayor for Community and Human Development, and put Salima S. Marriott (right) in the chair!
Mariott couldn't even get elected in her own district (the 40th) but now she's (surely) Baltimore's youngest-ever deputy mayor!
And YiIiiiKES, "'Dixon is taking over Baltimore at a time when the city is in good shape,'" said Andrew Frank, another Deputy Mayor (for neighborhood and economic development).
What neighborhood does he live in, I wonder?
BTW, the state investigation into city contracts that involving Dixon's sister and her former campaign chairman continues...

Wha? The Van Smith who worked on John Waters movies is not the same one who works at the CP, we assume!

From the Internets: The last link we'll ever post on the Sigma Chi "Halloween in the Hood" party.

HoCo
Donald Jones, 36, pleaded guilty to second-degree rape, second-degree sex offense and child sex abuse charges in May and was sentened to 65 years yesterday. Jones raped a pre-school-age girl and recorded the crime on videotape.

AAC
Inmate Kenneth Lawrence Higgins, 37, was found guilty of killing fellow inmate Brian Wilson in January of 2005.

Michael Green, 26, was convicted of negligent homicide, DUI and other charges in a bench trial stemming from the deaths of his daughter and her half-sister in a drunken-driving crash.

Handyman Albert Givens' fifth trial for the murder of Marlene Kilpatrick ended with conviction.

In the latest Navy football rape case, the victims tested negaive for gamma-hydroxybutyrate.

PGC:
A pastor was shot to death on the steps of his church.

December 6 nite

Three children were home during the family shoot-out over a utility bill in the Northwest. Johnathan Brodie, on parole for a 10-year sentence for a drug dealing conviction, and his girlfriend, 25-year-old Brandy DuPreee, are in custody.

A child is dead after a hit-and-run in South Baltimore.

In White Marsh at the Park N Ride a man kidnapped and assaulted a 13-year-old girl. (Time for the local news to heap on holiday "how safe is the Park N Ride?" stories...)

Nine students are being treated for pepper-spray exposure after a cafeteria brawl at Woodlawn HS.

Baltimore rabbi Avram Reisner helped open an interpretational door to allow same-sex commitment ceremonies and the ordination of gays within Conservative Judaism ... but no backdoor action for the boys.

December 6

CP:
Murders this week: 251
Andre Alexander, 21, 4300 block of Fairfax Road;
Dennis Talley, 48, 3800 block of Towanda Avenue;
Jason Sanders, 17, 2100 block of East Biddle Street (aka "300 block of Chester street" and "1100 N. Chester");
Hamel Hurley, 25, 1500 block of Shadyside Road
Rassan Jones, 22, 300 block of West Lafayette Avenue in Bolton Hill

"Police also reported for the first time a killing Friday in Northeast Baltimore's Hillen neighborhood. The victim, Hamel Hurley, 25, called 911 about 2 p.m. from his front steps and told a dispatcher he had been shot in the upper body during a robbery attempt in the rear of his home in the 1500 block of Shadyside Road. He died nine hours later at Johns Hopkins Hospital, police said. The killings brought the city's homicide toll for the year to 251, compared with 252 at the same time in 2005..."

Lucille Thorn of Newark, Delaware is now in the custody of U.S Marshals in Baltimore after she "allegedly attempted to hire a man to kill her 83-year-old stepmother so she could get some of her late father's inheritance money."

A New Twist in the Redwood Trust Double-Murder Case

Four buildings doused with flammable liquid and torched in the Southwest.

I wonder what happened with this double shooting near eeb's mom's house? (What's that neighborhood called, anyway? Hamilton?)

Blotter: Guns, drugs and another burglary in Parkville, where former owner Muhammad R. Choudhry was shot.

They are the champions: An utterly nutty story abot HoCo neighbors whose seven-year feud has led to 13 criminal cases (so far).

"Scrub Me Mama With A Boogie Beat" and "All This and Rabbit Stew"? Greg Kane's English class = edutainment!

Best New Blog: Bags In Trees, devoted to (what else?) the city's native bird, Bageotus Plasticus.

Congrats to my dad, winner of the TU President's Award! Someone put that man on the Board of Regents!

The Poor

Lots of comments on the "why are there poor people" poll.

I was just curious to know how many people blame poor people themselves. About one-fifth, it turns out!

From YouTube:

December 5

At a hearing today, Judge John Carroll Byrnes sentenced Calvin Amos, 53, to 15 years in prison. A Baltimore City jury convicted Amos October 13 of voluntary manslaughter and use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence. Judge Byrnes sentenced Amos to 10 years for the manslaughter and a consecutive five years without the possibility of parole for the handgun count. The case:

On March 3, 2006 Amos shot Joseph Schlick, 25, in the head at Amos' home, 2301 Herkimer St. Amos told responding officers the he had just shot Schlick. He was transported police headquarters where he gave a full confession to shooting Joseph Schlick. A search and seizure warrant was obtained and a black-powder handgun was recovered from the counter top of the kitchen. The victim was found on the kitchen floor. Investigation revealed that the victim came through the back door. Furthermore, there was no sign of forced entry. The victim and the defendant knew each other.

Very odd: A 24-year-old off-duty officer, Momodu Gondo, was shot in the back in the 5700 block of the Alameda in the Northwestern (Northwestern?!)

Yooooicks! Who hired this eyeliner-wearing freaknut to teach middle school? And how did he manage to lure a 13-year-old student into his bedroom undetected for two weeks?

Three years later, the death of federal prosecutor Jonathan Luna remains a mystery. (Wonder what RodJR's theory is?)

More on the criminal case against Pearson "Trey" Sunderland III, the NIH Alzheimer's researcher on the take.

"Sexual lifestyles" -- the class no one cuts!
I hope high school civics classes are showing the CSA's Big Gay Webcast today!!
(Wonder how Frank Conaway enjoys being the plaintiff in the Big Gay Lawsuit?)
Meanwhile, three conservative Maryland rabbis are part of a theological committee re-examining homosexuality and Jewish law, and in Oakland, schools are becoming more accomodating to the less "gender typical" student.
And FYI, I was sober, Mrs. Hunter ...! Tw*t!

December 4, evening

Interesting goings-on at the US Attorney's office:

• Franklin "Dragon" Molina of the Silver Spring trout gang was sentenced to 114 months for racketeering.
• And scientist Pearson "Trey" Sunderland, III, age 55, faces charges of taking some shady dollars from a drug organization (aka Pfizer).
• "Wig lady," aka 54-year-old Carol Silva, was indicted for bank fraud and identity theft. Her younger friend Jacqueline Elaine Belim, 46, was indicted on the 20th.
• Anthony Pender, 37, of Laurel got life for guns and drugs.

Why does no one from Baltimore City ever get some of that? (I smell a poll question)

Anon Comments from email:

(1) the Feds have better evidence rules on what they can get into evidence and (2) they have juries that usually convict and (3) [prosecutors] can't get a life sentence for any drug offense in state court, even as a fourth striker, by Maryland law ... the evidence in those cases stink since most people don't cooperate...even witnesses.

There is no lifer law for guns and drugs - if the question relates to Federal Court - there have been life sentences in the past (usually with a murder attached) but in recent times No defendant has been stupid enuff to go to trial with the usually Baltimore County-like - convict'em all juries in federal court - that's what plea bargaining is - in Fedland it means do 20-30 years without parole or get life without after trial - which is totally the opposite of what we have in State Court - which is [why prosecutors] can't get defendants to necessarily take ten years with parole or even probation sometimes on a MURDER let alone drug cases!

December 4

A gun battle near the 3400 block of Cottage Ave. in the Northwest at about 7:10 p.m. yesterday; 17-year-old Keith Holly arrested for attempted murder in a shooting witnessed by cops; a second suspect arrested for the Executive-Inn-stairway-beating murder.

Bail for BalCo hit-and-run tot killer Arellano de Hogue, 40, was set at $250,000.... Her "vehicle struck Elijah Cozart, 3, and his grandmother, 55-year-old Marjorie Thomas, as she pushed him in a stroller across Goucher Boulevard."

The gay-marriage fight has surely pushed our court into one long-thrusting thorny thicket, with everybody watching the long, slow webcast!
(At least in theory... looks like they have plenty to hear about first, like who gets to award contracts to whom)
Other hot high-court action: DC Supreme probes race and schools!)

Down in Tacoma Park, a District man was arrested for the city's fifth homicide this year.

Looks like O'Malley's down with gambling gaming after all ... just the untaxed bar-video kind.

41st-Street Approval Index

Most-applauded Mayor's Christmas parade participants:
15. Fancy horses
14. The horse that pooped
13. Vietnam Vets
12. Ravens mini-motocycles
11. Charm City Rollergirls
10. Dulaney flag girls and band
9. Underdog as Winter Fairy
8. Steam Calliope
7. Hampden Red-Hat Ladies in Duck Boat
6. Sarbanes
5. O'Malley, wife and kids
4. Mary Pat Clarke- people love her!
2. Boumi lawn-mower-engine carpets/ Edmondson Village Steppers (tie)
and, for the fifth year in a row,
#1 most-cheered= the guys who clean up behind the horses!

"Miss Marylands" in the Parade: six
Most popular thrown candy: Tootsie rolls
"" "", populous dancers: Peruvian Bolivian puffy-sleeve dancers
Most popular media guy: Ron Matz

least popular car ... Sheila Dixon's!
Crickets!
(She looked cold and miserable, too!)
The teeming multitudes really do seem to dislike her!
Why would that be?

December 2

A man was shot near Monroe Street and Penrose Avenue; a 13-year-old girl cut off a teenage boy's thumb; a woman was abducted from a gas station in he 1400 block of Washington Blvd. and raped.

A Federal Judge refused to dismiss the NAACP/ACLU lawsuit against the police department.

Judge Heard yesterday denied a motion to have rape charges dropped against two members of the "flex squad."

Godfrey Bonsu and wife, Victoria Boateng were sentenced yesterday to 14 years in prison, and 11 years three months in prison, respectively, with each sentence followed by five years of supervised release, for running a drug-courier business from the Takoma Park Quality Inn.

Rabbi David Kaye, featured on "Dateline NBC," got 6 1/2 years in prison for trying to solicit sex from (someone he thought was) a 13-year-old boy (but was really a 26-year-old worker from Perverted Justice).

Lots of stolen cars, bikes and $s in the Northern.

Yay! Underdog will be at the parade tomorrow!

December 1

John Gaumer's statements will be allowed in court.

A five-month-old Cecil County boy was murdered.

Sad: a hit-and-run driver hit and killed a child in a stroller.

Police have arrested a 15-year-old boy for allegedly stabbing his 17-year-old brother to death this morning in East Baltimore [249]. The 17-year-old stumbled out of the house, collapsed and died on the 1100 block of North Chester.

At arraignment today, Shanda R. Harris pled not guilty to reckless endangerment. Court documents allege that between July 1, 2005 and July 30, 2006 Harris allowed convicted child sex offender Melvin Jones access to her children after being notified that he was a registered child sex offender. The decomposed body of her 15-yar-old son, Irvin, was found July 31 in a wooded area at Clifton Park Golf Course after he'd been missing for three days. Shanda Harris remains held at the Baltimore Detention Center on $50,000 bail. A jury trial is scheduled for February 15, 2007 before Judge Allen L. Schwait.

The U.S. prison population has hit a record high, with 7 million people in jail or on probation or parole.

Samuel Pounds, 30, of the 2800 block of Sanafae Avenue, pled guilty today to one count of reckless endangerment. Judge Kaplan sentenced Pounds to 18 months in prison and three years of supervised probation, and ordered Pounds to complete a parenting, submit to drug and alcohol screening, complete an anger management course and to stay away from the victim and the victim's family. On October 27, 2006 a co-defendant in this case, Tia Whitehead, pled guilty to one count of reckless endangerment. The court set a sentencing date of December 27. Reckless endangerment carries a maximum prison term of five years. On June 16 Pounds chained a 15-year-old-girl to a bed in an upstairs bedroom at a house in the 3200 block of Beehler Avenue. The girl was not discovered until three days later.

A double shooting on the 3000 block of White Avenue and Harford Road, a shooting on the 1000 block of West Lanvale, a shooting on the first block of South Conkling; no one was killed. Also a murder arrest, a boy shot with a paintball gun and lots of robbery.

Can I get a witness? With only two people working the relocation program, and many witnesses refusing protection or to stay out of their old neighborhoods, knocking off witnesses can be remarkably easy.

A fourth teen was arrested for stabbing Paul Jones. A fifth suspect, 16-year-old Antoine Martin, is still at large.

A 16-year-old Glen Burnie boy was stabbed in a fight over a cell phone.

Michael Sapko of Arbutus pled guilty to possession of 86 images of sadistic child porn.

A police-involved auto accident on Fulton and Pratt last night.

Sun: criminals are becoming more forensic-science saavy.

November 30

A man was found shot to death on the 3800 block of Towanda Avenue early this morning (248).

The City Grand Jury indicted Kendrick McCain, 15, of the 700 block of McCabe Avenue. for first-degree murder, robbery with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery. Court documents allege on November 7 Kendrick McCain and three other persons approached Nicole Edmonds and her brother as they exited the MTA Light Rail Train at the West North Avenue station. Nicole's brother was thrown to the ground and a jacket was pulled over his head and that as Nicole ran away, she was chased, caught and fatally stabbed by McCain. McCain is held without bail at the Baltimore Detention Center.

The family of Josie P. Brown had to listen to a tape of UMBC student John C. Gaumer recounting how he sexually assaulted her, beat her to death and then dismembered her to cover his tracks, like he learned on CSI. Her beating death was also recorded on her cell phone. But, Gaumer says, he beat her with his head turned because "I don't have a good stomach for blood."

Ameer Taylor's first-degree murder trial was scheduled to start this morning... no word yet on if it actually did.
Update: Postponed until March 1 of next year.

A 17-year-old was shot in the back and died in Landover.

The drunk Mexican who killed Marine Cpl. Brian Mathews on Thanksgiving is an illegal immigrant.

A dice game may have been behind the stabbing of Paul Jones at Southwestern High. Three teenagers have been arrested and charged as adults.

In Upper Marlboro, the 13-year-old who killed his mother Katrina Powe and brother Mystery Hillian with a knife and ax handle pled "involved."

HoCoPoPo are looking for two pervs: a flasher in a grey car and a man who tried to grope a 13-year-old girl.

Also in HoCo:
A former firefighter, Joseph Schroen, pled guilty to arson.

There may be liquor in the front, but no poker in the rear.

November 29

Andre Alexander, 21, was shot to death on the front steps of his home on the 4300 block of Fairfax Road in the Northwest (247).

The Ink: Five murders last week, 246.

• Tereem Tayor, 21, 1700 block of W. Saratoga Street
• John Dowery, 38, 700 block of Bartlett Avenue (more on that story in the Sun today)
• Shawn Reed, 32, 400 block of East 22nd Street
• Undentified man; age unknown, 5100 block of Reisterstown Road
• Bernard Simon, 14, 1200 block of Shellbanks Road.

Paul Jones (!), a 20-year-old student at Southwestern High (?) was stabbed behind the school in the chest by an 18-year-old, who's still on the lam.

Demetrious Williams, 18, was charged in the beating death of Cecil Saunders, 28, an employee of Executive Inn Motel in the 3600 block of Pulaski Highway.

More details about the murder of one-month-old Joshua Watson. Warning: deeply depressing.

A man was shot in the wrist in the parking lot of Waverly Shopping Center; a man was shot in the back and arm in the 600 block of Mosher Street.

A Reisterstown Road jewelry store is allegedly a front for a drug-money laundromat. Owner Eugene Petasky was arrested Monday night. Petasky, 56, lives in Pikesville and also serves on the Board of Directors for the Children's Cancer Foundation.

What a great idea: Frederick police are posting open arrest warrants on their Web site.

W. David Stoffregen, former president of mechanical contracting firm Poole and Kent Co, pled guilty yesterday to racketeering conspiracy, mail fraud and filing a false tax return, and has agreed to testify against his codefendant, former state senator Thomas L. Bromwell.

More on the death of HoCo Marine Cpl. Brian Mathews, killed by a drunk driver a day after he returned from Iraq.

Ew, ew, ewie ew. A Westminister housewife, Melissa Lynn Kozimor, 27, got five years of probation (14 years suspended) for sexually abusing two teenage girls and having intercourse with a teenage boy while her husband and daughters were sleeping upstairs. She blames alcohol and PPD. Speaking of sexually offensive females, what the hell's going on with Britney and all the clam shots? Three in one week! (Warning: don't open that link at work .. or if you're easily offended!) But seriously, if she was an old man, she'd be in jail!

Speaking of grody flashers: County police arrested peeping tom/flasher Clinton Gardner, 38 (left). How much would you freak out if you saw that guy out your window?!

Headline of the day: "Md. Residents Say Dead Cat Smell Remains"

Greg Kane uses the word "Brobdingnagian" in a timely essay about the selective application of racial sensitivity.
Here's my question: as my 5-year-old pointed out, nobody actually has black skin, so why do we use that term?
And what's up with "African-American"? Doesn't that imply someone is only half an American, a recent immigrant?

ps. I'll be on the Ed Norris show on 105.7 this Friday from 10:30-11:30 a.m. Tune in!

November 28

Tannea Bullock and Lawrence Watson plead guilty today in connection with the January 2005 death of their one-month old infant son, Joshua. Bullock plead to manslaughter, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years and child abuse resulting in death, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years. Lawrence plead guilty to reckless endangerment and was sentenced to time served. In accordance with the terms of the plea agreement announced in open Court, Bullock is scheduled to be sentenced January 30, 2007. She faces a maximum sentence of 20 tears with a referral to Patuxent Institution. Statement of Facts:

On January 5, 2005 at their residence in the 4800 block of Liberty Heights Avenue, Bullock and Watson said that they awakened at 5 a.m. and found Joshua cold and unresponsive. Watson called 911. Emergency operators performed CPR and rushed Joshua to Sinai Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The medical examiner found loop-shaped scars and signs of blunt force trauma to the right side of Joshua's body, skull fractures, hemorrhaging and contusions of the brain and 27 healing fractures to his torso. Bullock later admitted "the baby was crying and I just snapped."

Philip Carter, 18, pled guilty to robbing and beating Sun reporter Carl Schoettler, and another, less-famous old man.

More on the triple-shooting of teenagers in Cherry Hill. Says the Sun, Bernard Simon, 14, was the city's 246th murder.

A woman stabbed her babydaddy to death in Woodlawn.

The Court of Appeals is going to start Webcasting arguments, so we'll all get to watch the gay marraige thing go down.

In AAC, Albert Givens is going on trial for murder for the fifth time.

The big fat convenience-store robber turned himself in. Joseph Gregory, 33, claims to be a crackhead (I thought that made you skinny?)

Here's part two of the Benjamin Garris story.

The Tribune Co. has turned down he offer by a group of local investors to buy the Calvert Street birdcage-liner factory.

How much does Mrs. J hate the gov-to-be? She wished jury duty upon him!

November 27 evening

Correction: the person who told us about the 6th season was full of it! Sorry! Number five is the end!

The Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Stephens Zukael, 19, for first-degree murder, deadly weapon, reckless endangerment and first-degree arson in connection with the beating death of Marcus Rogers. Court documents allege Zukael was last seen with the victim on surveillance camera prior to his death. An arraignment is scheduled December 20, before Judge John P. Miller, 428 Mitchell Courthouse. Assistant State's Attorney Dianna Smith will prosecute this case.

We love a conspiracy!

So, about 19 of BCrime readers polled think that the unclassified 341 deaths from 2004 are the result of some kind of incompetence, while 18 believe it's a political conspiracy. That seems to be giving everyone downtown a whole lot of credit. But if it was one, guess it worked!

November 27

Three teenage boys were shot last night in Cherry Hill; one has died. (244)

In Harford County outside the VFW, Rondale Guy of Havre de Grace was shot twice and a woman was assaulted.

Fake $100 bills from South Ossetia, Georgia have been found in Baltimore (as well as NY, Newark and Buffalo).

A fat white guy with a ponytail and a dark red pickup truck robbed four convenience stores in one day.

Theft, robbery, burglary. Yawn.

The governor-to-be is due at the courthouse this morning ... for jury duty! Hizzoner has also served once before, serving as foreman in the case of "an unemployed flutist who complained of being squeezed in the door of a bus while trying to catch a ride to a pet store to buy fish food."

November 26

Indeed, James Dowery was a witness in the murder trial of two men, Tamall Parker and Tracy Love. Dowery had been threatened and had been shot before, but testified anyway.

An off-duty officer shot two men who tried to rob him in South Baltimore.

A 20-year-old man was found dead in the parking lot of the Panera Bread Co. on York Road in Lutherville. Also, someone apparently had plans to burn down apartment buildings near TU.

Kids these days...

Rodricks: "The 16-year-old and the 15-year-old accused in the killing of the 17-year-old did not appear out of thin air." Meanwhile, Jessamy plans to study our young "street urchins."

For the second time in a week, a teenager was shot in Anne Arundel County.

The Feds are trying to revoke $2.5 million of school money because officials can't prove funds were spent appropriately. Speaking of school, today the NYT has a story about the achievement gap between poor and middle-class students. Interesting tidbit: a study found that professional parents talk to their kids almost three times more than parents on welfare.

The Frederick News-Post tells the tale of Benjamin Garris, who at the age of 16 murdered psychiatric nurse Sharon Edwards.

The Cordish Co. is being sued in New York for various torts related to their Tiki Bob's bar allowing underage drinking.

That's some killer office furniture ... Maryland Correctional Enterprises sold $42.8 million worth of goods last year without an internet presence ($3.8 million in sales were from license plates).

November 24

John Dowrey, 38, was shot to death on Thanksgiving at the Kozy Korner bar (243).

November 22

Ink: Three murders last week, 241 this year.
Alfred Williams, 26; Lamont Jackson, 21; Dennis O'Neil Bryant, 38.

A 19-year-old man was shot to death last night. (242?)

Murders committed by juveniles are up. or, as JZ puts it,
'This allegation We cannot continue to loose so many of our future leaders to such senseless violence. Our community cannot accept these numbers. added Marty Burns'

"Sometimes you make some crazy mistakes."
That's as close as Carl Preston Evans Jr. (left, from mugshots.com) has come to explaining why he stabbed, beat and strangled his 13-year-old stepdaughter to death, then set the family's Essex rowhouse on fire. Evans got life plus two 15-year-sentences.

Police cameras led to an arrest for the October 22 murder of Joel Bradley.

Ciara Jobes' grandmother won a $15 million lawsuit against Jobes' murderer, Satrina Roberts. Roberts is serving 40 years for second-degree murder and child abuse.

Since the two rape allegations against officers this year,
male officers aren't supposed to be left alone with female suspects, and the City Council wants cameras in interrogation rooms.

Gregory Kane reminds us (like anyone living this town could forget) there's no such thing as the right not to be offended. But how great it would be if there were ...

November 21

Mums went tits-to-the-wind at BWI to defend the right to breastfeed.

"It's always like this, the columnist coming in after the funeral."
(... unless, of course, you're one of 2006's 236+ murdered citizens ignored by columnists).

"New, chilling details" in the shooting of brother and sister Marcus and Nicole Edmonds, 16 and 17. The siblings were shot by two teenagers for their cell phones; Nicole died from her injuries.

The Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Tavon Berson Tyner, 22, of the 2500 block of W. Lanvale Street, and Donte Lamont Tyner, 22, of the 3700 block of Brownbrook Court, for first-degree murder of Darrell Artis. LaTosca Octavia McCullough, 26, of the 3400 block of Gaither Road, was indicted for accessory after the fact in connection with the homicide. Court documents allege that on September 7, 2006, a Nissan Quest Van driven by LaTosca McCullough was parked on a parking lot in the 7100 block of McClean Boulevard along with Darrell Artis, Tavon and Donte Tyner. An argument started between Artis and Donte Tyner, which escalated to a fistfight. Donte Tyner produced a handgun and shot Darrell Artis several times, then fled the scene along with Tavon Tyner and LaTosca McCullough. Artis died from his injuries the same day. An arraignment is scheduled for December 15, 2006 before Judge John P. Miller.

Question: what happens if you need an ambulance, fire truck or cop in Israel on a Friday night or Saturday? Do a bunch of Shabbos goys work one day a week, or what? I guess the question is, do the Orthodox make allowances for first responders a la , David Brown?

November 20th

Simon Fitzgerald was kind enough to pick up my slack today. For all the stuff he wrote, please check the comments section for the November 18th entry. Actually updating this blog every day is turning out to be a lot tougher than I expected. When does Mrs. Cybrarian come home again?

A couple of things I wanted to add to Simon's stuff:

Two guys have been arrested for an October murder in Annapolis. One thing I noticed is that Hometown Annapolis asserts that "Johnson's death was the seventh homicide in the city this year and the 19th in the county. Since his death, one more person, Jay Steven Fayne, 52, from Severna Park, was killed," even though there has been at least one more homicide, possibly two, in AAC since Fayne (Joel Young, whose killing may or may not considered justified, I haven't read anything about a decision being made on this; and an as-yet unidentified guy killed in Brooklyn Park). PLUS, multiple news sources keep repeated this "seven murders in Annapolis this year" figure. I've only ever read about six, plus one guy killed by Annapolis Police, which we should all know by now is not supposed to count towards the official murder tally.

And, in keeping with my favorite theme ("all the local news outlets around here totally suck"), WUSA's article about the Annapolis mall shooting doesn't add anything to the Sun article that Simon posted, but is entitled "Mall Shooting Started At Nearby High School," which implies that there was actually shooting occurring at Annapolis High, when in fact what started there was the argument which eventually culminated in the shooting, which was wholly confined to the mall. Sigh.

November 18th

In Metro Digest (after the food bank story), a guy was shot to death in Upton and another guy was shot a bunch of times and may or may not be dead or dying in Ellwood Park.

One of the four people believed to be responsible for the stabbing death of a 17-year-old girl at a light rail stop has been apprehended.

Here are a few more details in the other day's murder-suicide in Sparks.

A woman in Glen Burnie was convicted of shaking her 15 day old baby to death last year.

Kids in Annapolis just can't get enough of fighting in school.

Brian Doyle, the Homeland Security internet pervert, has been sentenced to 5 years in Florida.

Another Maryland pervert has been arrested down south, this one for murder.

Good old ABC7 doesn't realize that there are Caroline Counties in both Maryland and Virginia. This incident obviously took place in Virginia, and even has "Va." in the headline, but when you click on the "Maryland" tab on their front news page, this article is listed in there.

More November 16th

A fatal shooting in Brooklyn Park last night brings Anne Arundel County's murder total for the year up to 16 (I think). Please note this does not include Annapolis, since they have their own police force that handles its own murder investigations, or any of the prisoners/prison guards that have been killed in Jessup this year, since that's state property.

Also, a double shooting at a business park in Sparks, north of Hunt Valley. WJZ is calling it a "double homicide," but WBAL and The Sun only say "double shooting" and don't know the conditions of the victims. So far, the Baltimore County Police Dept.'s press releases page has nothing about it.

UPDATE: Less than ten minutes after I posted that, WJZ changed their article from "double homicide" to "murder/suicide." Still the same link, though.

Last night during a robbery in West Baltimore, a cab driver was shot in the balls.

I always forget to check the Examiner. Galt brought this article about the undetermined deaths thing to my attention. It's not very in-depth or anything, but it's at least interesting for the breakdown of the causes of death in these cases.

November 16th

Donta Allen surprised everybody yesterday by pleading guilty to the murder of Linda Trinh.

The owner of Club Malibu is sick of the cops and the liquor board constantly harassing him over trivial matters like having too much dried blood on the dancefloor and his patrons engaging in 200-person brawls, and he hilariously suggests that some rival bar is behind it. Matt Jablow: "I don't even want to dignify that remark."

Crime is up in the County.

OK, everybody, now you can start running stories about the fourth body found in Harford County being ID'd.

Our oldest murder suspect this year has died in jail before ever coming close to making it to trial.

Today's rather bare-boned police blotter details the closing of two of this year's other murder cases.

Resident reaction to Tuesday's murder in Salisbury. I'm pretty much only including this because it very briefly mentions Baltimore, and I found it interesting that this year Salisbury has tied its previous record for most murders in a year ever.

In Calvert County, crime consists of drunk driving, smoking weed, stealing beer, and throwing pumpkins at mailboxes.

Good news, homeless sex offenders! You don't have to register!

Why wasn't it like this when I was a kid?

Once again, this is DC news, not Maryland news, but when I read it, I thought I was losing my mind.

November 15th

So, The Sun's murder count was (sort of) right, there was another murder that was never reported until today, even though it happened a week and a half ago. The catch is that it wasn't until more recently that anybody realized that the victim was wanted for a shooting in Columbia. Nobody cares if another person dies in Baltimore, but everyone cares about Howard County!

Other than that one, according to Murder Ink the Sun got all the other ones. Anna Ditkoff points out that her records indicate that there have been 240 official murders this year, but the police (and The Sun) say 238. For a minute I thought she was counting the two people killed by police that are listed this week, but I just checked my own spreadsheet and she's right. Hmm.

UPDATE: Wait, I take it back, she's wrong. Two of the murders in my spreadsheet that I was counting were people getting shivved at the City Detention Center, meaning they were wards of the state at the time of death, so it's not within the city police's jurisdiction. And, I just noticed that she had the right number last week, so she DID count the two people shot by cops (one incident it wasn't even a city cop, it was an MTA cop). Doesn't she know, after 2+ years of doing Murder Ink, that isn't how it works? Why isn't she including the other four people that have been killed by police in the city this year?

In today's blotter, a weird burglary in Roland Park and a shooting in CHM, among other things. Yesterday's blotter has the identity of Saturday's murder in Mount Holly (you say Walbrook, the Baltimore Dept. of Planning says "to-mah-to"), shootings in Poppleton and Milton-Montford and a lot of robberies and stuff.

Salisbury had its sixth murder of the year last night. They had one last year.

That's all for now. I'm definitely going to do at least one more update today, I just thought I should throw something up here real quick since I didn't post anything yesterday.

WTF was that?

So I was on Coldspring Lane going east a few minutes ago, coming off of 83, waiting at the light on Falls Road with Grandma Cybrarian on the passenger side, and the lady in the car next to me, which was a gold Chevy of some kind started leaning on the horn. I was like, "Mom! No! Don't roll down the window!" but she's from Georgia so she did, and the lady driving held out (what looked like but who knows, from 15 feet away in the dark) a police badge and motioned for us to pull over. I was like, "sorry, no, I'll follow you to the Northern back there, but I'm not going to pull over." And she said, "okay, well, you need to slow it down on the driving," and I said okay, and she sped off.

So was it really an undercover cop in an unmarked car, or did we almost get jacked?!
I don't know, but either way ... know where your local police stations are and don't pull over for anyone in the city if you're not sure who they are!

November 13th, evening edition

Mrs. Cybrarian forwarded me some press releases today from the State's Attorney's Office:

Baltimore, MD - November 13, 2006 - The murder trial of Donta Maurice Allen, 28, of the 3000 block of Matthews Street, is scheduled for 9:30 AM tomorrow before Judge Roger W. Brown, 406 Mitchell Courthouse East, 110 North Calvert Street. Jury selection is expected to begin at that time followed by pre trial motions. Opening statements are expected to begin 2:00PM Wednesday.

The Baltimore Grand Jury indicted Allen on April 15, 2005 for first-degree murder and first-degree burglary.

The indictment charges Allen with the murder of Linda Trinh, 21. Trinh, a Johns Hopkins University student, was found dead in her off campus apartment, 3333 North Charles Street, January 23, 2005.

Allen remains held at the Baltimore City Detention Center without bail. Assistant State's Attorney Matthew B. Fraling, III will prosecute this case.

[There have been several articles in the past few days about how this is almost definitely going to be postponed for a third time.]

Baltimore, MD - November 13, 2006 - Patricia C. Jessamy announced that the Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Renato Cawthorne, 38, unknown address, for first-degree murder and other counts.

Court documents allege on December 16, 2005 a witness identified Cawthorne as the person responsible for the death of Jonathan Dwight Coles, 24. Mr. Coles was robbed at gunpoint and fatally shot in the 1700 block of E. Preston Street. He succumbed to his injuries the following day at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

An arraignment is scheduled for December 5, 2006, Judge John P. Miller, Room 428 Mitchell Courthouse. Assistant State's Attorney Don Giblin will prosecute this case.

Baltimore, MD - November 13, 2006 - At a hearing today, Judge Althea Handy sentenced Malik Vandiver, 18, of the 2900 block of Parkwood Avenue, to 30 years in prison for second-degree murder and 20 years in prison, consecutive, for a handgun count.

A Baltimore City jury convicted Vandiver August 29, 2006 of second-degree murder and use of a handgun in the commission of a felony or crime of violence.

On January 8, 2005 Vandiver shot to death of Bayonna Cox, 29, of the 2500 block of Francis Street. Testimony at trial proved that witnesses heard gunfire early that morning and saw Vandiver leaving the Francis Street residence with a gun. The murder weapon was found later that morning at the home of the defendant's friend in the 4600 block of Homer Avenue.

Assistant State's Attorney Mary-Ann Burkhart prosecuted this case.

And lastly, I just want to call attention to the story about that body being identified in Harford County. Now WBAL suddenly has it as their top story, as if it's breaking news or something. And when I was watching the local news at 4 on WJZ they said something like "coming up: a body found in a Harford County field in September has been identified. Could the person responsible already be in custody?" YES! They're already in custody! We've known that since September! I was pissed off a few days ago when a cat stuck in a tree and a deer with a plastic jack-o-lantern stuck on its face were big stories, but this might be worse. Don't shove some old-ass news in my face and act like you've got a big scoop! Argh!

(Sorry, you said "no partisan rants," not "no rants of any kind.")

2008- You Heard it Here First!

Got an info tidbit y'all might be interested to know:
The 2008 democratic ticket will be Al Gore with Barack Obama as VP.
Thought Al was happy sporting the Paul Bunyan beard and harshing everyone's mellow with the global warming thing, but no-- he's going to make another go of it. It's supposed to be kind of a secret, but looks like someone forgot to tell his web desiger ... if you want to keep it quiet, dude, you might want to change the page title and icon!

Anyway off to catch a plane ... and I'm NOT taking the computer!
Toodles!

November 13th

People murdered this weekend:

-Donald Samuels (links to police blotter which also details three non-fatal shootings), shot to death Friday in Curtis Bay (Baltimore City #235, or #236 if you believe the Sun's last published count which would indicate that they failed to ever print anything about #234, which is totally believable)

-Shaun Tiller and an unidentified male, shot to death Saturday in Berea and Mount Holly, respectively (#'s 236 and 237 or 237 and 238)

-Muhammad Rafique Chaudhary, shot to death Sunday in a convenience store robbery in Parkville

-Reina Natosha Lynch, shot to death Saturday while on guard duty in Beltsville

-Devon Harold Jackson, shot to death Sunday in a robbery in Cheverly

-Donald Harrison, beaten to death Sunday by his son during an argument in Seat Pleasant

If anyone is counting, that makes it six murders in four days in Prince George's County. This includes last Thursday's double murder in Hillcrest Heights, the victims of which have finally been identified, and the shooting in Clinton that I never actually posted an article about (until now!).

Also, Abby Karoma was killed Saturday in Lanham in a hit-and-run involving a "silver, 1990's four-door sedan, possibly a Honda Accord or similar foreign make." Was there a woman in the trunk?

Lastly for PGC, cops shot two suspects after the car they were in pinned an officer against another car. Neither of them died, but if you're keeping track, PGCPD has killed 5 people this year. In this respect they are tied for #1 in the state with Baltimore PD.

A guy was arrested for stealing 40 (!) vans in MD, PA, and DE.

An unidentified male robbery suspect was shot to death Saturday by an MTA officer at the Reisterstown Plaza metro station.

Misleading Headlines Department:

-Yesterday's Sun article about the above-mentioned incident is titled "MTA officer kills robbery suspect in Reisterstown." Just because the metro station is called "Reisterstown Plaza" does not mean it's in Reisterstown. Ever heard of "Belair Road," "Harford Road," "York Road," or "Frederick Avenue?"

-"Fourth Woman Found Dead, Identified In Harford Co." (No, there haven't been any more IDs made since Friday, and there haven't been any more bodies discovered since September. One body is still unidentified.)

-Yes, this happened in DC and not MD, but the headline is so misleading I couldn't help but post it: "Youth Drives Metrobus after Driver Flees" makes it sound like this kid did something heroic, whereas "Youth Detained After Commandeering Metrobus Saturday Night" is way more accurate