April 18

In PA, jury selection is underway in the case of Baltimorean Andre Staton, accused of stabbing his girlfriend Beverly Yohn to death. Staton has an extensive record going back to the 80's that includes arson, battery, thefts and obstruction of justice.

On August 9, 2005, police discovered the body of Robin Hoey inside a safe located in the 3100 block of Lorena Avenue. The Medical Examiner concluded that Hoey died as a result of asphyxiation and ruled her death a homicide. Tomorrow, the murder trial of Oswald Victor Voigt, 49, is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. before Judge Allen L. Schwait. A Baltimore Grand Jury indicted Voigt on September 9, 2005 for the first-degree murder of Robin Hoey, 36. Court documents allege that on August 18, 2005 Voight confessed to murdering Hoey. State's Attorney's office: "Don't hold your breath on this actually going forward...."

The 14-year-old who was shot to death last Saturday was identified as Raymond Revley.

A group of four or five men went on a robbery and carjacking spress in PGC and DC Easter Monday afternoon.

Prince George's County homicide detectives held a funeral for their littlest victim, a newborn found by a pond in Riverdale Park.

Ehrlich-appointed Republican Delegate Terrill "Terry" R. Gillelan Jr., left, was arrested nine months ago after drunkenly crashing his Mercedes and stumbling into traffic, unkempt and drooling. District Judge Thomas Pryal acquitted him of drunk-driving charges due to faulty evidence. Gilleland is up for election this year.

Finns: salmon is the new prison saltpeter.

April 17

Following a bail review hearing this morning, Judge Nancy B. Shuger ordered the "Sweet 16" (alleged) killer Jamal Charles charged with first-degree murder and held without bail. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for 8:30 a.m. May 12 in room 3, Hargrove District Courthouse.

Judge Wanda K. Heard sentenced Marvin Dorsey, 23, of West Lombard Street, to life in prison for first-degree murder and 20 years in prison for use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence. Judge Heard ordered that the sentences run consecutively and said that it was her hope and desire that Dorsey "never see the streets again." On January 20 a Baltimore City jury convicted Dorsey of the murder of Raymond Savoy, 16. On October 27, 2004 Dorsey shot Savoy eight times with a .45 caliber handgun in the 200 block of South Caroline Street. Asst. State's Attorney Matthew B. Fraling III prosecuted the case.

Melissa Harton got 10 years in prison for the killing of Natasha Bacchus Magee. The AP reported that she could be out on parole in as little as a year and a half.

What the ... ? A Dundalk family couple is being terrorized by a 16-year-old hoodlum/witness intimidator who, says a police dept. spokesperson, the State Juvenile Justice Department refuses to deal with.

A man in the NW was arrested for the possession of a stolen Glock 9 mm.

April 14

Two teenage boys were shot on Cardenas Avenue in East Baltimore. Both survived.

A 23-year-old man was shot Wednesday on the 1100 block of East Lanvale.

Loco Rodney Bethea tried to hang himself in the NE District Station, then hit an officer over the head with a halogen light bulb and held a woman hostage in an office with a pair of scissors.

Tavon Wilson, 21, got 16 years in prison for shaking his girlfriend's toddler to death.

Felon Jerome Henderson, 42, got 15 years for a gun charge.

Benz-driving Kawasaki owners pled guilty to immiglation ferony and money raundeling. They stole tips, too.

University of MD police: help us arrest this drunken, hooting hatboy.

William D. Chase, 49, is the new head of the FBI's Baltimore office.

A 15-year-old Aberdeen boy is in critical condition after a gang-related shooting.

What's up with the Sun's coverage today? It's, like, on 'roids all the sudden (this time steroids, not hemorrhoids).

April 13

An as-yet-unnamed man is dead after a double shooting at 6:40 in Reservoir Hill. A woman was also wounded.

Dick Irwin especial: 371 words for the past seven days' murders:
Last Thursday: Curtis Mitchell, 19, was fatally shot to death.
Saturday: Darnell Butler, 24, was fatally shot in the NW.
Sunday: Homeless Julia Kimberly Boussari, 34, died of a stab wound to the chest; A woman was found suspiciously dead on Druid Hill Ave.
Tuesday: Charles Sparrow, 53, got a fatal chest-stab wound at a house on Glydon Avenue.
Police found the body of a woman who died of head injuries in a vacant home.
Wednesday: The body of a burned man was found inside a rowhome in West Baltimore.
And yesterday, three boys were shot in the Northwestern near Liberty Heights Avenue.

Devin Jamele Milbourne, 21, of Edgewood, was arrested for attempted murder in the shooting of 15-year-old Tyrone Orr in Aberdeen.

The Sun gives the police department's Kristen Mahoney a chance to respond to Jessamy's accusations that numbers prepared by the Police Department were an intentionally misleading attempt to discredit the office of the prosecutor. "'The information that Mrs. Jessamy provided yesterday added no value to the discussion,'" said Mahoney. (What discussion?)

April 12

Ditkoff: eight murders last week and 72 for the year.

Judge Paul E. Alpert sentenced Emanuel Young, 27, today to a total of 80 years in prison. A city jury convicted Young March 22 of second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder and handgun counts. Judge Alpert sentenced Young to 30 years for the second-degree murder, 30 years for the attempted second-degree murder and 20 years for the use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence, with all the terms to run consecutively.

On April 13, 2003 Young murdered Marcus Gordon, 20, in the 3000 block of Oakley Avenue. A second victim was also wounded in that shooting.

The CJCC monthly meeting is today. The meeting is open to the public.

A second man pled guilty to bilking UMBC. Patrick R. Sisk, 49, admitted to grifting $137k of cash, goods and services via a construction-fraud scheme.

Creepy crap in the county: A painted-black effigy was found dangling from a bridge in Edgewater.

CJCC:
Clerk Frank Conaway asked if there were going to be any changes made in the way flex squads operate, because 60-some cases out of the Southwestern had to be dropped, adding, "I've never seen it this bad."
Marcus Brown replied, "the percentage of officers in flex squads is relatively small."
("Those flex squad officers were all skinheads who followed Ed Norris from New York," a judge opined to me later.)
Marcus Brown of the mayor's office reported that the FBI's Uniform Crime Report for 2005 was out and that overall crime is down 6.4 percent, violent crime 3.8 percent. He said that when the mayor referred to a 40-percent figure he was referring to since 1999.

Then it was Jessamy's turn, and she let loose. She said that in information released by the police and mayor about her office, only 140 of 500 cases had accurate information. The office handed out huge chunks of paper with details of hundreds of cases from what she called a "rouge database."

While Jessamy was pontificating a guy from the U.S. Attorney's Office was reading the paper with his back to Jessamy. How horribly rude, I thought. I found out later what the guy was reading was today's Daily Record story, ("Prosecutors clear the air before CJCC meeting") in which Glynn (the top judge of the city and chair of the meeting) was quoted as calling Jessamy a "liar" for claiming that prosecutors had "strongly objected" to the 90-day sentence of Amanda Johnson. Anyway, Jessamy was livid. "The rouge database is a direct attack, and that will not be tolerated, and if it happens again I'm out of here, because we're messing around on the citizens."

Glynn, himself, was still pig-biting mad. After the meeting I asked, "what's up with 90 days for Amanda Johnson?"
He said, "Do you even know the facts in the case?" The fact was, he said, Amanda Johnson was the girlfriend of Kenneth George, who was charged with attempted murder. Somehow George managed to get a plea deal in which he got probation in exchange for sniching on Amanda. So indeed, it's already not fair for the girlfriend to get time. "And nobody said a word, much less 'strongly objected,'" huffed Glynn. So indeed, how did Kenneth George plea himself down to probation?

Turns out it wasn't Amanda Johnson's boyfriend (Kenneth George) who got probation in exchange for snitching on Johnson, it was the boyfriend's friend Clyde Meadows. There are actually two Kenneth Georges, a Jr. and a Sr., Jr. is Amanda's boyfriend. Both Georges, father and son have been charged with attempted murder, but it's the boyfriend's dad, the senior, who is charged with intimidation. They both are clearly extremely intimidating and have been charged with more than 100 crimes since the early 80s, with charges related to everything from speeding to ripping of a jewelry store to attempted murder and robbery. Kenneth George senior is getting sentenced on the 24th, and Jr's attempted murder trial is supposed to start this week.

Clyde Calvin Meadows III, (the one born in 1979), was the first person charged under the state's new Witness Intimidation statute, and should and could have gotten 20 years, but he got three years of probation. His "rap sheet" lists 24 case numbers... burglarly, theft, attempted murder, robbing businesses, probation violations... how could any judge look at his record and let him roam free? Mind-boggling.

April 11

News from afar: a prison radio station.

Jayne Miller: Though Baltimore's medical examiner ruled the death of 58-year-old James Royster a homicide and said his death caused by his aorta rupturing during an assault, and though a suspect had been indicted, the police department took the death out of the "homicide" category and changed the record to indicate that Royster instead died of "natural causes."

The Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Dana White, 51 of the 400 block of East 25th Street, for first-degree murder. On March 21 White got into an altercation with a neighbor, Lee Artis Tatum, 73, and stabbed him to death in the Brentwood Apartments building where they both lived.

The Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Corey McLeaurin, 29 of the 3400 block of Gwynns Falls Parkway, for armed robbery, use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence and other related charges. Court documents allege that on March 17, McLeaurin and another man robbed a man of $5,900 cash in the parking lot of the Village of Cross Keys shopping center. The victim shot and injured McLeaurin during the robbery. Another suspect was shot and killed, and the State's Attorney's Office is reviewing that fatal shooting. There has been no finding in that incident and the matter is considered still under investigation.

The murder trial of Mohammad Biglari (who is accused of killing his neighbor in Charles Village) which was scheduled April 6 and continued until April 10 for lack of courtroom availability, was continued again Monday. The defendant was not transported to court from the Detention Center; an interpreter was not available; and no courtroom was available. The State was ready to proceed to trial both days. The new trial date is 10:30 a.m. April 17 before Judge Kaye Allison, 451 Mitchell Courthouse.

Four years after the murder of Taharka McCoy, will Tyrone "Moochie" Beane face trial?

Shakia Watkins, 19, got four years for making fake calls to 911 to clog up the police system before the firebombing of Edna McAbier's house.

A body was found yesterday in Crownsville.

Police identified Saturday's murder victims as as Shelton Turner, 21, Noble Johnson, 26, and Andre Brantley, 21.. also a girl was abducted and raped on North Curley street.

Though both parties said in January that tougher penalties for sex offenders were a priority, the legislature couldn't agree on a bill.

Oprah: "We're standing in a city where the dropout rate is atrocious for young black males ... 76 percent. That should make you gasp." She was in town and raised $1.4 million for the Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community school. She also paid a visit to Richard Sher, her former "People Are Talking" co-host and a friend of the school's dean.

April 10

A 21-year-old man was shot in the Southeast.

Tragic: after two months of not reporting a single word about his murder, the Sun realizes that Donte Bellamy was no typical victim but a boy of Baraka.

The body of seven-year-old Edward Blue was found in the water off the pier at Lynch Cove in Dundalk.

Did you know? According to Steve from Catonsville, because of "extremely loose" zoning regulations, Maryland has 13 establishments that "facilitate the swinging lifestyle."

City judges Glynn and Keith Mathews blasted city police for routinely not returning signed search and seizure warrants, a "sloppy and unprofessional approach to police business" that jeapordizes cases. Speaking of business, should the police really be spending time helping people find jobs*? Don't we already have any other agencies, clubs, churches and nonprofits, YMCAs, Dan Rodericks, the Police Athletic League or librarians for that?

Maryland also has one 46-year-old woman, Valerie Fletcher, who pled guilty to prostiution to protect her clients, including Charles R. Boutin. Maintining client dignity and protecting privacy is the capstone of the companionship business, after all. "I am deeply mortified for the man that he was portrayed this way," Fletcher was quoted as saying in the Sun, adding, "he sought me out because I offer role play and domination."
Oh well, all PSC members are about to be fired anyway... and not in a pyrosophical way.

Sucks to be Phillips: sixteen tons of Indonesian crabmeat was seized by U.S. Marshalls following allegations of improper storarge.

*The first Examiner link. Those are some short articles.

April 9

In Worcester County, after a car chase a man was arrested for killing a couple and two of their grandchildren.

City police officer Che Jackson, 24, was arrested for stealing tire rims from a seized Cadillac.

Perv news:
A QA County middle school gym teacher, 26-year-old Christopher Tribbett, is accused of having a sexual relationship with a girl that began when she was 12 years old.

Dateline NBC is under fire by the Wash. Post for paying the civilian watchdog group Perverted Justice. The group did three shows that attracted some 24 million viewers, by the fourth show they negotiated to be paid a paltry $100k for their work. Three members of the group were also deputized so the arrests would meet local legal requirements, and the series has generated accusations of news-manufacturing. Whatever.

April 8

Karen L. Foxx killed her estranged husband Herman last Saturday afternoon in Randallstown with some shots to the torso. Good for her. He broke her dog's neck for godsake.

April 7

Snitched-upon officers King (left) and Murray have been found guilty.

Roderick Dwayne Johnson, 19, pled guilty to second-degree murder and handgun use in a crime of violence in connection with the death of Sheronda Butcher, 30. Court documents allege that on October 9, 2004 Johnson shot and killed Butcher in a dispute over money. Johnson allegedly shot Butcher as she attempted to close a window in her apartment. Roderick Johnson received from The Honorable Judge Althea Handy a total sentence of 40 years, suspend all but 20 years, the first five years without the possibility of parole. So he could possibly be out on parole for five years?!

Third trial's a Charm: The murder trial of Mohammad Biglari, 62, is scheduled for 9:30 Monday morning before Judge Glynn. In 1994 a Baltimore City jury convicted Biglari of the 1991 murder of Barbara Halsey and he was sentenced to life in prison. Then the CSA granted a new trial in 1995 based on "evidentiary issues." He was not tried again until 2002 on account of "competency issues" (whose is unclear) and was convicted again that year. The CSA granted a new trial in 2004 due to a court procedural issue; Biglari had been removed from the courtroom for misbehavior.

Three people were shot and two killed in unrelated incidents yesterday. A man was killed on N. Longwood St. near Walbrook Avenue in West Baltimore, and two men were shot, one fatally, on the 500 block of Sheriden Avenue near York Road.

More than 100 charges relating to a two-state shooting rampage were dropped against a man named Allison Lamont Norman. Ironically, dropping the charges made it more likely for Norman to face a harsher penalty in Delaware.

The Sun reports that 21-year old Daron Harerll was arrested for shooting a man and a woman on Wednesday. It was the paper's first mention of the double shooting.

Double shootings may not be ink-worthy, but the arrest of two pot-smoking high school students got four paragraphs.

More news of the ironic: Charles Boutin, a Harford County delegate who was a chief sponsor of the Defense of Marriage Act admitted to using his state-owned office computer to solicit a prostitute. Is there anything worse than a gay-bashing hypocrite trolling for hookers with your tax dollar? Why yes! His office responded to the allegations by issuing a press release attributing his actions to his chronically limp weiner. On WBAL radio this morning, the governor called the incident "private and personal" and "a lot of things that don't belong on the air." Word.

April 6

The death of Lana Whalen of Essex, whose body was found on the shoulder of the O'Donnell Street I-95 ramp last night, is considered suspicious.

Federal prosecutors decided not to seek the death penalty against four members of the Supreme Team.

The trial of Andre Broadway, 47, is scheduled to begin tomorrow before Judge Allen Schwait. Court documents allege that on or about August 2, 2005 Broadway sexually assaulted and abused a 14-year-old. Documents also allege that on or about September 24, 2005 Broadway threatened the caretaker of the adolescent, leaving several threatening messages on "his/her" (I guess "his/her" identity is a secret) answering machine.

Last week's murder victim, Victor Richards, was to be a witness in the murder trial of Kevin Garnett, Tavon and Stephen Williams, accused of killing Theodore Ross. This week the three were acquitted.

Arrests were made for the murders of Darren Green, shot March 25, and Edward Jeter, killed last week. Also two arrests for attempted murder in the blotter and a man shot in the neck.

In PGC, Henry Zelaya is facing federal charges related to directing activities of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang from jail. (Fun fact: the group's name means "gang that saves trout")

Police are seeking a man in a too-small bucket hat, left, who robbed the Catonsville Wachovia bank.

Police are seeking a man who stole $10k worth of jewelry from "the Lord and Taylor's."

Two Harford County brothers were arrested for running a fake-charity scam.

Also in Harford County, another attack on a dad at the hands of the local Bloods.

In Chestertown, something a lot like a riot broke out at the Department of Juvenile Services' J. Deweese Carter Center. Eighteen youths have been charged.

Perv alert: a chubby 50-ish white guy was spotted lurking around the playground at Freetown Elementary in AAC.

Dept. of Bad Parenting:
A four-year-old boy was found abandoned and wandering on North Avenue. He is now in foster care.

A woman was arrested for falsely claiming someone broke into her home and stabbed her two-year-old. The real culprit was the boy's five-year-old brother.

April 5

Someone stabbed a two-year-old white boy.

Ditkoff: four murders this week: Edward Jeter, 28; Victor Richards, 23; Raymond Brown, 27; and Ashley Harris, 19 (had Harris been shot on government property instead of the sidewalk in front of Club Choices, her fetus would also be counted), for a total of 64 murders so far this year. The Sun reported three of the four.

King and Murray: "beastly men from the jungle" or "fallen warriors"? The case has gone to the jury.

BaltiCo,BaltCo, it's not really a town, but the population's up and crime is down!

Christian Lopez, a 17-year-old, has been arrested for first- and second-degree assault (among other charges) after an incident in Landsdowne in which 12 men used baseball bats to assault three victims.

Rondell Medley, 17, was arrested for the murder of Tarrod Wallace last year.

A man was beaten and carjacked while his three-year-old son was in the back seat, strapped in. No word if investigators suspected the dad or tot of whoremongering or operating an illegal hackney-coach.

State police are seeking a white male rapist with a "Portofino Bay Hotel" hat.

Corrections officer Michael Kemp was arrested for posessing two vials of crack.

In the Blotter: you know times are tough if criminals are reduced to robbing the Dollar Store.

April 4

The second suspect in the shooting of undercover cop Dante Hemingway is not 17, nor is she named Brittaney, Britney or Brittany Johnson: she's 20-year-old Sherray Douglas, and why she had the detectives {sic} personal cell phone number is a mystery.

As diversity dwindles among the ranks of police, some wonder if a shackled, stuffed Abu (the Disney® monkey) is some kind of statement. (Like maybe "... they cut off your ear if they don't like your face/It's barbaric, but, hey, it's home!")

Judge Nathan Braverman granted Vickie Mengel's motion to modify her sentence and granted her a Probation before Judgment. There are no new terms or conditions. The southwestern district police officer was convicted February 14 of illegal gambling and fined $150 for her involvement in a November poker game in Northeast Baltimore.

Yesterday's murder victim was identified as 23-year-old Victor Richards. And there's plenty of other violence in the blotter.

Wayne Bond, the 18-year-old killer of Derald Guess, will be sentenced June 2.

Ronnie "Skinny Suge" Thomas was arrested for assault and robbery.

Cars are being stolen left and right in the Northern.

A man in a Salisbury Denny's got glued to a toilet seat.

Nine residents of Baltimore and Hagerstown were indicted on federal cocaine-dealing-related charges.

A Cecil County cop is in hot water after swiping some knockoff designer handbags from the evidence room.

MTA bus driver Francisco Rivera, convicted of felony theft for selling black-market bus passes, will go to jail for two years.

Baltimore County police found a sweatshirt they believe belonged to the rapist of the 90-year-old woman.

The Examiner arrives tomorrow; it announced itself Saturday by indecorously littering thousands of lawns with advertisements, which may soon be illegal (wait, isn't it already an ordinance?) Anyway, the Examiner will target rich people who don't like to read, as well as the Sun's advertisers by selling space at a discount. The competition is more bad news for the Sun, which has been struggling to integrate its Internet presence with print operations.

My connection is back!

April 3

There were three murders in Baltimore over the weekend. A pregnant 19-year-old girl named Ashley Harris was shot to death early Friday morning in the 1800 block of N. Charles. 28-year-old Edward Jeter was shot and killed inside of a house located on the 900 block of N. Luzerne St. late Friday morning. On Saturday morning, 27-year-old Raymond Jerome Brown was found shot to death on a stoop in the 500 block of N. Mount St.

We failed to mention the death of 23-year-old Victor Lamar Richards, who was shot eight times while standing in the 1300 block of N. Montford Ave. last Thursday.

Montgomery County Police are seeking one Silvino (or Giovanni) Quintanilla, wanted for murdering his 23-year-old girlfriend Maritza Hernandez.

Undercover officer Dante Hemingway is still in critical condition at Shock Trauma after being shot last week in South Baltimore. Police have arrested 20-year-old Jobrey Lodge and are seeking a woman who is suspected of being involved in the shooting.

A 30-year-old woman was raped in her Bel-Air home early Sunday morning after a man broke in through a back window.

16-year-old Tanya Harris was arrested Friday when she returned to her Hilltop Ave. home.

Today's Blotter has a shooting, another shooting, yet another shooting, and a dispute over some movie theatre popcorn that resulted in a theft of $5.

Perv du jour: 32-year-old Andrew Malone is accused of photographing an eight-year-old boy in a toilet stall in Arundel Mills Mall.

March 31

Tanya Harris, left, a wiry 16-year old girl, is wanted for attempted murder and robbery in the attack of 26-year-old Lensey Hamilton.

A 90-year-old woman was robbed and raped in Cockeysville.

A "mobile meth lab" was busted and police arrested a middle-aged couple in Garrett County.

Motion to Modify Sentence Hearing is scheduled for Officer Vicki Mengel for Monday at 2:00 p.m. The Motions hearing will be heard by Judge Braverman at Eastside District Court in Courtroom 1. The southwestern district police officer was convicted February 14 of illegal gambling and fined $150 for her involvement in a November poker game in Northeast Baltimore.

Ooh, an illegal "bottle club" in the basement of the Belvedere Hotel! How roaring-twenties!

A Palm Springs perv, Michael Sadler, was arrested in Baltimore.

Joseph A. Shryock, 47, pled guilty to bilking UMBC for $3k worth of plumbing fixtures.

If you're a Japanese businessman trying to avoid taxes on $100 million worth of Wyeth, stash the cache in the last place anyone would expect to find a classy nude: Baltimore.

March 30

28-year-old Baltimore City police officer Dante Hemingway was shot in South Baltimore's Westport neighborhood while working undercover. A "person of interest" was hit in the leg, and another suspect is being sought.

After two corrections officers were stabbed at Jessup, Ehrlich is holding a "prison safety summit" to address violence in Maryland prisons.

Almost missed this:
Julie B. of the Sun covering the Jeff Raymond/Matt Stoffel story. I'm with you, Nancy Kelly: "the state's attorney is not the victims attorney ... It's a crime, not an accident ... whether it's a stranger or your best friend, when you kill someone, you need to be held accountable." Barf: "I wish we could be 5-0 for Matt."

18-year-old Martin Michael Morgan was was sentenced to life plus 29 years for murdering Wade Walker at a Northwest Baltimore takeout restaurant.

William Muldrow, 61, got 19 1/2 years for running an OxyContin ring.

Three entrepreneurial college students from Indiana were much luckier. After being stopped in AA County with 103 boxes of cold and allergy meds (which they were planning to take home and resell to meth manufacturers), they were released because Maryland doesn't have any laws preventing bulk purchases of psuedoephedrine products. A federal law will go into effect next week.

A 30-something black guy with a tattoo on his neck has robbed two Dundalk Royal Farmses.

Thomas C. Springer was indicted for a year-long bank robbery spree.

Pasadena girl: nobody touched the hoo-ha after all.

A Dundalk father-and-son pair, both named Odell Edward Phipps, pleaded guilty to sexually abusing three girls between 1973 and 1997.

Anonymous source: in the Amanda Johnson case, she wanted to plea and the state "can't force someone to not plea. The state initially asked for eight years. Then asked for five years. The judge came up with five years suspend all but 90 days. The State objected to the sentence, not the plea."

Teenager Tyler Bauer is suing the Frederick TGI Friday's for "200-thousand" for letting her drink illegally, which led to her to falling on her face in the parking lot.

March 29

At a hearing today, Judge Shirley Watts sentenced Martin Michael Morgan, 18, to life in prison plus 29 years. Judge Watts sentenced Morgan to life for the first-degree murder, 20 years for the handgun and nine years for first-degree assault. A Baltimore City jury convicted him February 8 for the murder of Wade Walker, 32. On March 12, 2004 Morgan shot to death Mr. Walker inside a carryout in the 3700 block of W. Belvedere Avenue. A co-defendant in this case, James Murphy, pled guilty January 10, 2005 to second-degree murder and is currently serving a 30-year prison sentence.

A Baltimore City jury convicted Montese L. Thompson, 23, today of second-degree murder following three hours of deliberation and one day of testimony. Judge Alfred Nance set sentencing for May 16, 2006 at which time Thompson could receive a maximum of 30 years in prison. On June 28, 2005 Thompson beat Verna Brown, 35, to death in the 1800 block of North Montford Avenue. Thompson assaulted Brown in a house and later followed her outside and beat Brown in the face with a shovel. Brown was transported to Johns Hopkins Hospital where she later succumbed to her injuries on July 3, 2005.

At a hearing today, Amanda Johnson, 23, of the 700 block of Berry Street, pled guilty to a single count of witness intimidation. You'll recall the Hampden lass is one of the first people to be charged under the new, tougher witness intimidation laws. Under terms of the plea agreement, announced in open court and objected to by the State, Judge Glynn will sentence her to five years in prison, suspending all but 90 days with three years probation. Sentencing is scheduled for April 26, 2006. In July 2005 police identified a witness in a pending attempted murder trial. The witness positively identified Timothy Meadows and Kenneth George as the individuals who attempted to murder a victim on June 26, 2005, in the 2600 block of Miles Ave. They were indicted for attempted first-degree murder and related charges and are awaiting trial on April 12. Say court documents:

"On October 14, 2005, Amanda Johnson went to the house of the witness and knocked on the door. Amanda Johnson asked, 'Why are you snitching on my family?' and then pulled out two photographic arrays with the identifying witness's signature and stated, 'I got these from discovery, and he is going to get it before he goes to court.' Amanda Johnson then left the area in her vehicle. She is the girlfriend of Kenneth George."

The Sun and I (Chuck) mis-identified two of last week's murder victims: According to "Murder Ink" and supported by BPD, Lenard Hawkins (not "Lennard") was the man killed on Lauretta Ave., and Darren Green (not "Derrick") was the man shot to death on Mapleleaf Ct. "Murder Ink" added one more name to the year's death toll: On March 23, the medical examiner ruled that the death of 41-year-old Gregory Rollins was murder, not suicide.

The sub-headline in the Sun really says it all: "King says he gave informants drugs to sell but insists he's not guilty of corruption."

The Blotter has everything from fake Louis Vuitton bags to a 20-year-old with a shotgun blast to the chest.

WYPR ran a two-part interview with Commissioner Hamm. (Part 1 and Part 2.)

In the nation's first case of a state taking over city-run schools under No Child Left Behind, Maryland State Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick is proposing to take control of 11 city middle and high schools in 18 months. Brian D. Morris, chairman of the city school board, was quoted in the Sun as saying, "This political [expletive] is eroding our ability to educate the children of our city." Funny. It seems like North Avenue's ability to educate the children of this city eroded a long time ago, but maybe that's just me being bitter.

Terrance Hawkins still hasn't refunded money to the majority of the people who paid him for a non-existant tour to see Oprah.

Benjamin Iloamuzo was indicted for identity theft and filing fake tax returns worth more than $220,000.

Laura Paolino-Moore pleaded guilty to operating a financial institution without a license, and was ordered to repay over $2,000 she stole from her debt-management clients.

In the "Heinous Crimes Against Underage College Students" department, Power Plant Live announced that they are ending their Thursday "College Night."

March 28

The trial of Wayne Bond -- Bloods member and alleged cabbie killer -- continues in Harford county.

Today's sensationalist headlines come from The WBAL: "Man At Large After Stabbing". Apparently, two men were arguing in a Linthicum store when one stabbed the other.

One reason why I like the Sun: A lack of sensationalist headlines. If today's Blotter were on a TV news site, it would read something like, "Two Shooters, A Stabber, and An Arsoner on the Loose."

In Westminster, seven adults and one juvenile were arrested for possession of heroin and crack after a five-month investigation.

A drug bust in Southwest Baltimore netted police 21 guns, $12,000 in cash, and 100 grand worth of the wacky tabacky.

A bill establishing crimes against homeless victims as hate crimes died in the Senate. Opponents claimed the bill would not address the problem of homelessness. If I'm understanding correctly, though, the bill wasn't trying to address the problem of homelessness, it was trying to address the problem of people beating and killing the homeless.

The jury didn't buy Thurman Spencer, Jr.'s strategy of calling the woman he was accused of raping and then claiming his phone records established that they'd had a consensual sexual relationship.

The father of the 8-year-old girl who was shot by a boy at a Germantown day care center has filed a $1,000,000 lawsuit claiming negligence on behalf of the center's president, an employee, the boy's father, and the convicted felon who provided the gun to the boy's father.

March 27

(I apologize in advance for the bare-bones posting in the coming days. I'm swamped in school, especially with my statistics class that is teaching me how to twist numbers to fit my own devious purposes. -- Chuck)

Five murders since Cybrarian's last post: 17-year-old Shawnisha Biggus was stabbed repeatedly on Woodbourne Ave. (right across the street from where 15-year-old Vatell Murray lived before he was shot to death in a train tunnel back in January). Her murder received an atypical amount of coverage, including WJZ's piece on a candlelight vigil and this sensationalist bit titled "Murder Suspect Still On The Loose". (It might be more accurate to write "Hundreds of Murder Suspects Still On The Loose.")

Lennard Hawkins, 22, was shot outside his Lauretta Ave. home on March 12, and died at Shock Trauma on Wednesday, March 22.

73-year-old Lee Tatum was stabbed on Tuesday, March 21 after having a dispute with 51-year-old Dana White on E. 25th St. He died on Thursday, March 23.

The Sun article about Shawnisha Biggus mentions that 21-year-old Carlos Lewis was apparently the man who was shot in the head in South Baltimore near 295. Even though that WJZ article asked us to "Stay logged onto WJZ.COM for the latest updates on this story," they never actually bothered to report that he died at Shock Trauma early Thursday morning.

Derrick Green, 21, was found early Saturday morning with multiple gunshot wounds to his abdomen. He died at the scene.

In the Blotter, two teenage girls stabbed a 54-year-old employee of Royal Fried Chicken, a man was robbed, another man was robbed, and a man was hit over the head with a big piece of wood.

The case against three suspected East Baltimore drug dealers collapsed when Circuit Judge John N. Prevas ruled that defense attorneys could tell jurors about 46 internal affairs complaints filed against the two investigating police officers.

After the Dundalk precinct recorded 4,000 (???) calls to the York Park Apartments last year, Baltimore County is buying the crime-ridden complex. (I wonder if city officials could convince the county to buy Lauretta Ave., also?)

King took the stand for over four hours on Monday.

The Maryland House of Delegates approved legislation to veto the Constellation/FPL Group energy merger. Ehrlich and BG&E officials don't seem impressed.

March 24- April 5

The Cybrarian will be generally unavailable for the two weeks it takes Verizon to hook up a GD'd DSL connection.

Jury selection in the rape trial of Charles Carroll is expected to begin at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday before Judge Roger Brown, 636 Clarence Mitchell Courthouse.