Life w/o Parole for Cop's Killer

At a hearing today Judge Timothy J. Doory sentenced Brandon Grimes, 23, of the 800 block of Cator Ave. today to life in prison without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder and a consecutive 18-year prison term for use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence. A Baltimore City jury convicted Grimes August 29, 2008 following a two-week trial and deliberating approximately four hours over two days. Prior to the shooting, Grimes had been arrested 17 times in 3 1/2 years.
Details in this case, from the SAO:

In the early morning hours of January 9, 2007 Brandon Grimes fatally shot Baltimore Police Detective Troy Lamont Chesley, Sr. (right) in the 4500 block of Fairfax Rd. as Chesley was returning home from his shift.

Judge Doory told a courtroom filled with friends and family of Det. Chesley that this case “calls out for punishment” and described the murder as “brazen, cowardly, cruel and unjustified.” Det. Chesley’s mother and brother both delivered victim impact statements to the court prior to the sentencing today.

Assistant State’s Attorney Kevin Wiggins of the Homicide Division prosecuted this case.

Rite Aid Robber Dies

"A suspect in a robbery of a Rite Aid store in Precinct 11/Essex has died of gunshot wounds suffered in a confrontation with a police officer this morning."

The Ink

The Ink includes the previously overlooked murder of David Woodward, 30, shot Dec. 23, died Christmas Day.

27 minors murdered in 2008

Including baby Blevins (#164).

Gary Mann, shot to death in the 5100 block of Palmer Avenue at 7:23 a.m. on December 16 at the age of 24, also appears to be a new addition to the toll that brings the count to 234-- or is he one of our unid'ds?

233?

"Baltimore City police said a man's body was found Tuesday afternoon in Gwynns Falls Park, and they called the discovery a suspicious death"

"Racial disparity still plagues Maryland corrections system"

MD judges lose a week of vacation!

231, 232

Sunday the 28th, Edgar Christopher Mazyck, 39, died after being shot at Edmondson Discount Mart. Mazyck left the store and was shot by an unknown assailant as he walked back inside.

Last night, a man and a woman shot near Druid Hill park, the man has died, the woman is in critical condition.

Four old people charged with murder of Brooklyn teen

Forty-six-year-olds Joseph Richardson and Lawrence Lewis, 43-year-old Virgil Hitchen and 53-year-old Patricia Trusty are being held without bail in the fatal shooting of Steven Graham, 14. According to charging documents, the suspects were seeking retribution for a robbery at a Brooklyn home Nov. 18.

Best Buy Cares Indeed!

So I had a washing machine delivered this morning from the Timonium Best Buy, and on the way out the delivery guy have me this card requesting that I "please take a few minutes to answer some questions" regarding my "delivery experience" ... and he told me that if he didn't get at least two customers to go online every day to delivery.bestbuycares.com and fill out the survey then Best Buy would dock his paycheck!!

That can't be legal, can it?

County police need help to ID gunshot victim

"Baltimore County Police are asking for the public’s help in identifying the body of an adult male, believed to be Hispanic, discovered deceased in the roadway. His body was found in the eastbound lanes of Pulaski Highway east of Stevens Road, 21162 in Precinct 11/Essex."

No S, no M in quintuple shooting

A quintuple shooting: "some of the victims were found Sunday along Wheeler Avenue near West Fayette Street. More victims were found along North Gorman Avenue and in the 100 block of North Benatalou Street." Three victims were female, one was a 16-year-old boy. No suspects, no motive.

The 22-year-old woman found shot to death in Canton last weekend was identified as Alaina Ciara High, apparently a frequent and habitual drug user.

"I have to kill someone for my family," said a 13-year old boy who broke into a woman's home at 10 in the morning, armed with a knife

Police are searching for two missing Landsdowne teens, one of them is suicidal

"Community activists and families of people whose deaths remained unclassified are planning to hold a candlelight vigil outside the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore on Wednesday evening. The vigil, scheduled for 6 p.m., is being held to honor the hundreds of people in Baltimore whose deaths have been ruled 'undetermined' during the past decade."

Take a guess: how many MD law enforcement officers have been killed in the line of duty so far in '08?

Under-trained OB/GYNs lead to a deadly c-section rate in MD

Crazy-driving dad saves day

In PGC, a kidnapped family is saved by dad's erratic driving!

An arrest in the Edgewood Christmas Eve murder

The MD Court of Appeals is considering how much privacy blog commentors deserve.

For what it's worth... reader opinions of the death penalty haven't changed much since last year.

230

An unidentified woman reportedly found murderized on the property of William C. March Middle School at 1919 N Broadway.

Prison-Industrial Complex

"... the fastest-growing, least-examined type of incarceration in America, an industry that detains half a million people a year, up from a few thousand just 15 years ago. The system operates without the rules that protect criminal suspects, and has grown up with little oversight, often in the backyards of communities desperate for any source of money and work."

Related Rodricks: Immigrants pay taxes

The good, the evil and the stupid

Early this morning two people were shot at Club 410 at Belair & Moravia Rds. in the NE.

"Police have relocated an 87-year-old after a firebombing attempt on her home in the Walbrook neighborhood, authorities said yesterday. The incident occurred early Saturday morning, two days before she was to appear in court to face her alleged attacker in a March home invasion."

Hermann: "Adrian McFadden was pointing a black six-shot revolver at Avon Ball Jr.'s face and threatening to pull the trigger. Ball's foster brother, George T. Johnson, stared back at the gunman and pleaded, 'Don't shoot him, shoot me.' The gunman obliged ..."

A man was shot at E. Monument and N. Port streets.

Tales of the stupid: A Baltimore man stopped for speeding in Easton was arrested for impersonating a police officer after flashing a defunct Loyola College security badge.

229

A 22-year-old woman was shot to death in Canton last night in the 800 block of S. Bouldin St.

Ronald Comer Hall, 46, was shot to death at Broadway and E. Lanvale

228

An unidentified man was shot in the head at North Fremont Avenue and Bennett Place.

Hermann follows up on the story of Carlos Woods, a boy caught in crossfire at age 3, now 10 years old.

Trooper fired after getting drunk, kidnapping man, subjecting him to white-knuckle ride in Towson

Three gun-toting felons got some Rod time, including Jermaine Bell, accused of paying $45k for the murders of three harewin-trade rivals (and the DOJ is now publishing press releases as PDFs, how annoying)

Media blabber: Tim Franklin, editor and VP of The Sun, has jumped ship. His successor will be the guy who was the mastermind behind the launch of that wildly popular paragon of intellectual progress, "b." And only good can come of that.

The End

Michael Johnson Jr., suspected serial rapist, shot himself twice and died in a boarding house near Albany, N.Y.

Just asking

A program in Mexico pays poor people to take their children to doctor's visits and send them to school. Could it work here?

Hearth and Home

More details on the murder of Travis Makofski/Mafoski, 28: he was shot during the course of a home invasion, in which a gun was held to his mother's head. No word on if the suspects were caught (but odds are they haven't been).
Especially between now and Christmas, don't open the door to anyone if you're not sure who it is! It's the most dangerous time of the year right now!

"Police advise crime victim to move"

"Two veteran Baltimore city homicide detectives are facing an internal investigation after allegedly refusing to cooperate in attempts to evict a public housing tenant."

"A Goucher College student who allegedly was sexually assaulted has come forward but is not cooperating with Baltimore County police, police said."

What the?! Dept:
"A man who was convicted of four sex offenses involving a 14-year-old girl is entitled to a new trial because of the way the last member of the jury was chosen, the Court of Appeals held."

"A Prince George's County police lieutenant charged four times this year with driving under the influence passed out behind the wheel of a running police cruiser in one incident, had to be Tasered and pepper-sprayed in another and was at fault in a hit-and-run in a third"

227

Thaddeus McCauley, 19, was shot to death in the 1400 block of Homestead.

In the county, a man stabbed his "girlfriend" to death

A guy was shot in the leg near City College

LOLZ!! "Chief judge exempts other judges from pay cuts"

In better news, the Medical Examiner's office has complied with the Freedom of Information Act and released information on unclassified deaths as requested by the Examiner.