More on the 14th police-involved shooting of the year, that of armed & retarded Bryant Worrell.

The Supreme Court has struck down a Louisiana law that allows the execution of people convicted of raping a child. In a 5-4 vote, the court said the law allowing the death penalty to be imposed in cases of child rape violates the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Here's the answer to the question, "would such-and-such murders get so much media coverage if they happened in a different neighborhood?" Annie Linskey points out that Druid Heights also had two fatal shootings on the same block, and also had a community meeting of freaked-out residents. (And the story has a typo. Would that apostrophe have been misused if it was in a story about Federal Hill?)

June 24

The year's latest murder victim is a 41-year-old man who was killed at 2:30 this morning in the 1700 block of Abbotston Rd., just down the street from Clifton Park. Gus Sentementes reports that this is the fourth killing in CHUM this year, compared to five for all of last year.

There are a bunch of stories on the killings that occurred over the weekend. Well, there are a ton of stories on the two murders in Federal Hill, there's a story and some photos about the two murders on Bloom St. (and the Federal Hill murders), and everybody has already forgotten about the lady who got slaughtered in Pigtown and Marcus Caldwell, the young man who was found by his mother. (Although it's bass-ackwards to praise a newspaper for not covering the news, kudos to the Examiner for not jumping on the Federal Hill bandwagon. I'd much rather read Luke B.'s end-of-month murder summaries than a bunch of hysteria over 2% of the city's murders.)

Something seems very, very wrong with this headline: "Killer may face return to prison." (Something seems very, very wrong with Christopher O'Brien, too, if you ask me.)

Honestly, this whole Sheila D. mess is really confusing to me, so I'm going to wallow in my ignorance and skip the latest batch of articles. Here are some links, though, so you can read up. If you can explain it to me in 25 words or less, that'd kick ass. The Sun, the Examiner, WJZ, WBAL, WMAR, and another one from the Sun.

Since Kevin Johns is too dangerous for the crazy prison, he's staying at Supermax. So let's have a Baltimore Crime contest. Where do you think Kevin Johns should be sent? And c'mon, be creative. "Put him down like the rabid dog he is." Blah, blah, blah, heard it before. Let's have some Tuesday morning fun. I propose that the state sell him to the guys who made those stupid Saw movies and he can work as a "violence consultant."

From your friendly SA's office:
A Baltimore City jury convicted Randy Golden, 19, of the 3600 block of St. Victor Street today of first-degree murder, use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence, wear/carry/transport a handgun. The jury deliberated approximately two hours before reaching its verdict. Judge Timothy J. Doory scheduled sentencing for June 24, 2008 at which time Golden faces a maximum possible prison term of life plus 23 years. Details:

On January 9, 2007 at 12:00PM in the 600 block of Washburn Avenue Golden shot his ex-girlfriend, Melissa Stefanski, once in the back of the head. The shooting took place in broad daylight in the middle of the street. Witnesses testified that two days before the shooting, Golden warned three different people, including the victim’s sisters, that he intended to kill Stefanski. The State asserted that the motive for the shooting was that Stefanski began selling drugs for the Crips, a rival gang of the Bloods, of which Golden is a member. Stefanski’s new boyfriend was also a Crip.

Assistant State’s Attorneys Lisa Phelps of the Homicide Division and Brandis Marsh of the Narcotics Division prosecuted this case.

June 23

Ugh. Five murders since Friday. Let's see if I can sort it out.

• On Friday night, Keyva Bluitt was shot inside a blue Toyota then pushed out of the car in the 800 block of Battery Ave. in Federal Hill.
• Marcus Caldwell's mom found her son's body in the driver's seat of a minivan early Sunday morning in the 3200 block of Sequoia Ave.
• The body of a tattooed white woman was found by a Pigtown jogger just after noon on Sunday in the 1300 block of Nanticoke St. Police are asking the public to help ID the woman.
• An un-ID'd man was fatally shot at 8:30 last night in the 500 block of Bloom St. It's the second murder on that block in three days: 21-year-old Brian Goodwin was killed there on Thursday night.
• Around the corner from where Bluitt was killed on Friday night, a un-ID'd man was shot to death just after closing time on Sunday morning. Residents reported gunshots, but nobody found the body until a jogger stumbled across it (not literally, I hope) at about 5am on Sunday.

The whole second page of the Sun's article is devoted to the two Federal Hill killings and their effect on the neighborhood's residents.

Luke B.'s Examiner article on the Federal Hill murders includes a charming quote from Federal Hill's City Council Member William Cole IV: "One murder is shocking. Two is beyond shocking." Hey, Cole, if you think that's shocking, you should try paying attention to what happens to your constituents around North Ave. or Franklin St.!

The accusations against the BPD from Bryant Worrell's family continue: "They don’t want anybody seeing him because they’re covering up something. This makes you hate police, it makes you not want to trust them."

Holy Pulitzer, Batman! The Sun ran a follow-up story on Milton John Barnes III, the Woodlawn apartment manager who is still in critical condition after being shot on Thursday morning. The article doesn't say much more than that, but police do need information if you happen to have any.

The second teenage escapee from the "secure" Victor Cullen Center was captured Friday a few blocks west of the Avenue in Hampden.

Two perverts got some federal time: Frank Pierce Young, age 78, got 3 months; William Lee Burdette, Jr., aka "HornyMDOlderguy," got more than 11 years.

Apparently, churches and zoos are good targets for theft.

We're up to 102

... reports WBAL, though that's still 45 fewer murders than this time last year.
Two victims were in Federal Hill, one of them was Keyva Bluitt, 35, dumped on Battery Ave.
Another was 23-year-old Marcus Caldwell, found last night dead in a minivan.
Still trying to figure out who the others were; some victims were probably fatalities from last week's 22 shootings. Fortunately Ditkoff's on it!
.. and apparently it's the waning gibbous moon that makes death come ...

Are Bullets on Sale?

Colin at Spotcrime.com reports an incredible 22 shootings in the area in the past 7 days!

June 20

32-year-old Donta Gregory was shot and killed on a Remington street corner last night. According to yesterday's comments, Gregory "had an extensive rap sheet and was a defendant in six paternity cases." I don't know whether or not that's true, but if it's on the World Wide Internets, it's good enough for me! (Thanks, Mr. Meph.)

The same link above lists two other shootings last night, both non-fatal (so far). Also, the manager of an apartment complex in Woodlawn was shot yesterday morning and is in critical condition.

A BPD officer was taken to Shock Trauma early this morning after being involved in "some sort of altercation." Now, would somebody please nominate WMAR for a Murrow award, because that's some damned fine investigative reporting.

Two motorcyclists died at the Holabird exit off of I-95 in Dundalk in Sunday. Never mind that they were going way too fast, not pulling over for police, and one of them was riding a stolen bike; the family says it's the cops' fault that they died. (Thanks, ppatin.)

More on the sword attack in Middle River.

The under-18 crowd is going to have a rude awakening when they're hanging out at 2:00am.

June 19

A woman who is pregnant with twins was shot in a car on N. Mount St. on Tuesday night when a gunman fired at her boyfriend and missed. Also in today's Blotter, a 44-year-old man got whacked on the head after trying to steal some heroin from a teenage dealer.

Bryant Worrell's family continues to dispute the BPD's story of why Worrell was killed in a police-involved shooting.

Murder victim #95 was identified as 18-year old Ronnie Ware Jr.

There was a home invasion / sword attack on Oak Grove Dr. in Baltimore County this morning.

Can you spot the contradiction in this sentence? "Police were searching yesterday for a 16-year-old Baltimore boy who, along with a 14-year-old, escaped Monday night from Victor Cullen Center, a secure facility for juvenile delinquents in Western Maryland."

So is anyone actually surprised that a dude who tracks Bigfoot was busted for drugs?

Seven city staffers subpoenaed in suspected Sheila scandal, and Dan decides Dixon's dilemma is due to dumb decisions. (Yeah. You try coming up with witty one-liners about the news without resorting to cheap literary tricks. I double dog dare you.)

Of course, there are other stories about Her [Dis]Honor: Examiner, WJZ, WBAL, and MAR's complete coverage of Sheila D..

One of the boys who broke into Calverton Elementary/Middle School last month admitted to assaulting a teacher who was putting in some overtime hours.

Hey! Look! A task force! This one's on prison violence! Shit's totally gonna change now, because nobody fucks with a task force... NOBODY.

afternoon update: a floater, a murderous transvestite and even more shootings

More shootings? Two new incidents in the county!
"Three men were wounded when gunfire broke out about 11:20 p.m. at a backyard cookout in the 7400 block of Lexham Court near Woodlawn" and "One man was wounded when two men approached him about 10:45 p.m. while he was on the porch of a house in the 1900 block of Mountain Ave. near Parkville."

Ew, a body was found a-floating by Rikki Spector's condo.

County police are looking for a transvestite who robbed the Budget Liquors and shot a customer.

A murder charge against some guy was reduced to a handgun violation, but the story is so confusing I don't have time to untangle the details- is Haskins the 22-year-old guy? So two guys confessed to the same murder? My head hurts.

Judge to Kevin Clark: "no"

Hey, Ed Norris has podcasts now! You can hear Ed call Marty Burns a "dumb bitch" at your leisure!

June 18

23-year-old Sandy Howard was fatally shot as she drove in the 4100 block of Mariban Ct. in Brooklyn. Her passenger and a bystander who was sitting on the back porch were both injured.

An unidentified man was shot repeatedly and killed last night on the corner of Clifton Ave. and N. Monroe St.

Today's Ink covers nine murders, including the first mention I've seen of an unidentified woman whose body was found in a Hampden apartment on Buena Vista Ave. She was originally thought to be an overdose victim, but the ME determined that she was strangled.

Oops. I forgot to link to last week's Murders Revisited column. Charges were dropped against the kid who had been charged with killing Jennifer Morelock (who was pregnant) and Jason Woycio, then sending a text that read "I killed 2 white people around my way 2day & 1 of them was a woman." Boyfriend stabber Antoinette White wasn't so lucky.

The man killed Friday morning on Brighton St. has been ID'd as 30-year-old Samuel Bobrow, and Herlinda Rodolfo is being held at Central Booking after being extradited from San Antonio and charged with the murder of Valerie Barnes.

The Sun perfectly captures how utterly useless our mayor and media can be: "Target of raid goes to gym, investigators gather evidence, press clutters lawns." Other stories on Sheila D's investigation from the Sun, the Examiner, WJZ, and WBAL. Meanwhile, Mary Pat says "Leave the mayor alone!"

Margaret Burns apologized by phone and by email, and she still claims that Melody Simmons misrepresented her. Was her apology enough?

Murder #93

An unidentified woman was shot to death in a Toyota in the 4100 block of Meriban Court in Brooklyn.

Whoa Nelly!

Investigators with the State Prosecutor's Office searched the Mayor's house this morning!
(thanks Yeti)

Sleazy and Shameless!

Adam Meister blogs on an ethics complaint against Councilwoman Rikki Spector. A week ago, Spector cast the deciding vote in favor of HarborView's developer in favor of their controversial water-blocking tower-building plan. Turns out, not only does Spector not live in the Northeast district that she supposedly represents, but she's shacked up with her boyfriend at the HarborView condos in a one-bedroom unit that she's the right to live in until she dies, at no charge!

Wonder if anyone ever found that vanishing traffic ticket of hers?

June 17

Listen up, thugs and robbers and aspiring Al Capones, because I'm gonna give you some kickass advice: the cops have better aim than you do. They do crazy stuff like going to the shooting range and cleaning their guns. So next time you're fighting with one of your pals on the corner of N. Robinson St. and E. Baltimore St. and the cops show up and tell you to drop your gun, just do what they say. Of course, my advice is a little late for this guy. Sorry. I'll try to post it earlier next time.

Holy smokes, there are a lot of dead people in this article. The two men who were killed in the triple shooting on Shamrock Ave. on Saturday morning were 23-year-old Bryant Price and 22-year-old Justin N. Amis. The man found on Hamilton Ave. died of a single stab wound to his head, and it appears that his death has been ruled a homicide. The two teenagers killed on June 12 at a park on Moreland Ave. were ID'd as Djuan Anderson and Darrius Harrison. The man killed in a car on June 3 was 33-year-old Tyrone H. Wells.

In the same link above, a yet-to-be-ID'd guy was shot in the 3100 block of Brighton St. early Friday morning and died a few hours later at Shock Trauma. I don't recall hearing about that in yesterday's recap of the weekend's shootings. That's the beauty of Baltimore, I guess: there are always more shootings than you hear about.

Speaking of shootings, the Blotter has a bunch of 'em from Sunday. On Sunday night, a woman was shot on her porch on N. Pulaski. On Sunday afternoon, a 69-year-old man was almost robbed; he was shot at repeatedly as he ran away, and his sweet ride was hit at least once. And early on Sunday morning, a man was gutshot in Hampden.

Don't worry, the counties won't be left out of all the gun fun. In HarCo, failed murder victim Gary Dashawn Davenport became a successful alleged murderer, and Orlando Antoine Foote Jr. is accused of shooting at an Annapolis cabbie last month.

Six horny AAC men didn't get their 20 dollar love earlier this month. There was also a woman busted in the sting, but the article doesn't clarify whether she was a hooker or a hookee.

I love it when I misread headlines. I totally thought MoCo's water supply was cut due to the Rapture.

"Baltimore police found a man with two gunshot wounds early this morning in front of a home near Lake Ashburton, in Northwest Baltimore."

40 Years for Erik Stoddard

... for the murder of three-year-old Calen Faith DiRubbo.
Stoddard was convicted and sentenced twice before, this was his third trial.
Here's more links on that epic case.

From ZachSowers.com

Okay, here's a post that Anna Sowers put up today. I'm just going to copy and paste the whole thing here, because I'm plagiaristic like that. Also because there's nothing I could add that Anna didn't say already.

For those of you who don't find Jessamy and Co. to be a group of shining stars, here's your chance to speak up in a very focused way.

I will accept nothing less than a public apology from Margaret Burns and Patricia Jessamy. In addition to the public apology, Mrs. Burns must publicly retract the statements she made to Exhibit A.

A reporter who spoke to Ms. Burns last week said that she will be sending me a letter of apology. I don't want a stupid letter. I want a PUBLIC apology and retraction. Burns said in the Baltimore Sun article that she was misrepresented. Well then, explain why. I'm not going to let this be something that just blows over.

Zach Supporters, you all have to continue to help me keep pressure on Jessamy's office. Thank you all so much for your help thus far! Burns cannot get away with stating these things. She has undermined me (especially in my quest for Zach's Law) and hurt Zach's family, friends and supporters everywhere. Like I said before, she can very candidly come out and explain why she thought Zach looked like "a sleeping baby," why she stated that he "probably injured something in the fall or he had a pre-existing condition. There was no evidence of the vicious beating, no evidence of stomping" Explain it all Ms. Burns!! The whole city is waiting for you!

I called Ms. Burns's office and cell number on Thursday morning. I emailed her on Thursday night. It is now Monday morning and I have heard nothing. A close family member actually got through to Ms. Burns on Thursday and when asked if she saw Zach, her answer was obviously NO, and when asked why she said what she said, her answer was mostly "I don't know." And then she claimed that she made those comments based on the information she received from Mrs. Jessamy. She seemed quick to point the finger at Mrs. Jessamy. Well then, Margaret Burns and Patricia Jessamy can both publicly apologize and retract the statements.

We're all waiting.

There's also a detailed story on the case and aftermath at the Urbanite Magazine site. And Adam Meister continues to be riled.

John Paul Newcomb Indicted for Arson

The Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted John Paul Newcomb, 49, of the 3800 block of Pinewood Avenue for three counts of arson, malicious burning and reckless endangerment.
Court documents allege that between November 17, 2006 through December 26, 2007, Newcomb is responsible for setting fire to several houses in the Rosemont Community of Baltimore City. An arraignment is scheduled for July 11, 2008 before Judge Michel W. Pierson, Room 329, Courthouse East.

June 16

Damn. A guy takes a coupl'a days off from reading the news, and he comes back to find the air filled with more bullets than mosquitoes. So here's what I can put together. It's a bit repetitive from what MJB already posted, but for what y'all pay me, you can suck it up and deal with reading the same link twice. So there.

(Colin of Spotcrime.com has helpfully mapped all of those shootings, see right -- MJB)

On Friday night, we had nine shootings in less than five hours. Two of those were fatal.

On Saturday morning, some dude was found on Hamilton Ave. with a bullet hole somewhere in his body. He's not being called a murder victim yet.

A few hours before that, a robber shot himself in the leg as he was trying to rob someone in the 400 block of E. 33rd St. (Heh. That's pretty funny, actually. Too bad more of our robbers don't do that.)

Early Sunday morning, a man and woman were shot after a fight at the Rush Hour Bar & Grill on Liberty Rd., and police are seeking someone who looks like something.

Father's Day went to shit yesterday when papa went all Marvin Gaye Sr. on his growed-up boy in Carney.

Early this morning, a man was shot twice in the 3000 block of Denison St. near Lake Ashburton. He's being treated at Sinai, in case you want to send flowers or a little cuddly teddy bear or something.

Okay, I think that takes care of the shootings. On to other news.

Naham Perry, a cop at University of Maryland Eastern Shore, has been charged with getting his perv on with a 15-year-old girl. It's the second time he's been charged with being unable to control himself around young teenage girls.

Two cold cases in Baltimore County were ruled as homicides. One case involves the strangulation of 18-year-old Joyce Rein in 1975, and the other is for the strangulation of 23-year-old Natalie Williams in 1982. Both women can be linked to convicted murderer Harold Houndshell, who would be charged in their deaths if he hadn't died in 1999.

More on the HoCo PD shooting in Jessup in April, including the fact that the second teen who was shot also might not be charged with any criminal activity.

If they shut down vital bus lines in AAC because they're too violent, can they just shut down the entire city of Baltimore for the same reason?

Two baggage handlers for AirTran at BWI have been charged with stealing people's luggage.

Sad: An investigation into the death of Jarrell Gray of Frederick found that he was not wearing a hearing aid when he was Tasered for not following the commands of a sheriff’s deputy.

This just in: eating at lyin'-ass Applebee's will make you 6% fatter than you'd planned on being.

A Very Violent Weekend

... and it's only Sunday morning!
At least nine people were shot over 4 1/2 hours from Friday night to Saturday morning, and at least two are dead.
A suspiciously dead male body was also found in Hamilton.
The Sun quotes the Mayor: "You hate to associate the moon, but sometimes when it is a full moon, it seems to get crazier."

and in Carney, a man shotgunned his son to death.
Happy Fathers' Day!

Two people were shot outside of the Rush Hour Bar & Grill on Liberty Road in Randallstown.

Ocean City police are ISO one Omil Milfort, right, who's wanted for a stabbing a Pennsylvanian at 16th and Baltimore Streets.