2009 is looking bad for Baltimore

Murders This Week: 9
Murders in 2008: 234
Murders in 2009: 7

As 2008 ended and 2009 began, Baltimore City continued its backslide. Though the city's 2008 homicide total was its lowest since 1988, there was an uptick in murders during the last two months of the year. The trend continues into the new year, with seven murders on record for 2009 by Jan. 5, compared to just two at the same time last year.

Even though 2008's final homicide tally was markedly lower than that of 2007--234 homicides in 2008 vs. 282 in 2007--Baltimore's per capita homicide rate exceeds that of many neighboring cities. If Baltimore had Washington, D.C.'s homicide rate, there would only have been 202 murders here this year; if it had Philadelphia's, there would only have been 146; and if Baltimore had New York City's homicide rate, only 40 of its citizens would have lost their lives to violence this year.

The two women murdered last week have been identified. The woman shot in the head on Dec. 23 in the 800 block of South Bouldin Street in Canton was 22-year-old Alaina High. The woman shot repeatedly in the 1900 block of North Broadway, just south of Clifton Park, was Lisa Bushrod, a 42-year-old African-American.

At the end of 2008, one homicide victim from the year still has not been identified. A skeleton was found in a wooded area in the 4800 block of Strathdale Road in Frankford on April 30. Police know the victim was male and was shot to death but they still do not know his name.

Monday, Dec. 29

10:58 p.m. Police were called to the scene of a shooting in the 800 block of Chauncey Avenue in Reservoir Hill. When they arrived, they found a 37-year-old African-American woman shot. She had tried to escape the house, but collapsed in the doorway. She told police that Antonio Coby, a 28-year-old African-American man, had also been shot. He was lying on the kitchen floor. Coby had been shot in the head and was dead. The woman survived.

Tuesday, Dec. 30

12:23 p.m. Someone working on a sewer line in Leakin Park found a badly burned body in the woods. The body was that of Petro Taylor, a 20-year-old African-American man. Police later discovered that Taylor had been beaten to death in the 5800 block of Reisterstown Road. His body was then dumped in Leakin Park.

Thursday, Jan. 1

12:55 a.m. Just after midnight on New Year's Day, Mario Williams, a 31-year-old African-American man from Owings Mills, was shot in the head outside a bar at North Luzerne Avenue and East Monument Street in East Baltimore. He died at an area hospital at 8 p.m. that night.

Friday, Jan. 2

4:56 a.m. Police received a call for a shooting in the 1100 block of Orleans Street just two blocks from Baltimore's main Post Office. There they discovered Marcel Mitchell, a 20-year-old African-American man from East Baltimore, lying in the street shot numerous times. Glenn Cunnigham, a 22-year-old African-American man from Pikesville, was found in the vestibule of an apartment complex in the block. He had also been shot several times. Cunningham was dead. Mitchell was taken to an area hospital but was dead by the time he arrived.

5:37 p.m. Andre Thorpe, a 17-year-old African-American male, was shot in the head in the middle of the street in the 800 block of North Kenwood Avenue. He was taken to a nearby hospital in grave condition and died at the end of the week. This is the second homicide in the Madison-Eastend neighborhood in the first four days of 2009.

Sunday, Jan. 4

7:49 p.m. Trevane Ricks, a 16-year-old African-American male, and an as-yet-unidentified African-American girl, who police believe was also a minor, were shot at an apartment building in the 5600 block of Loch Raven Boulevard near Good Samaritan Hospital. Ricks was shot in the chest and died at a local hospital an hour later. The girl was shot in the side and died at 10:57 p.m. This is the second double homicide in the first four days of 2009.

8:40 p.m. People living in the 4000 block of Chesmont Avenue off Belair Road heard gunshots. When they went outside, they found Lougene Williams III, a 20-year-old African-American man, lying in the middle of the street shot in the right shoulder. He died at a local hospital that night.

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Murders This Week: 9
Murders in 2008: 234
Murders in 2009: 7

As 2008 ended and 2009 began, Baltimore City continued its backslide. Though the city's 2008 homicide total was its lowest since 1988, there was an uptick in murders during the last two months of the year. The trend continues into the new year, with seven murders on record for 2009 by Jan. 5, compared to just two at the same time last year.

Even though 2008's final homicide tally was markedly lower than that of 2007--234 homicides in 2008 vs. 282 in 2007--Baltimore's per capita homicide rate exceeds that of many neighboring cities. If Baltimore had Washington, D.C.'s homicide rate, there would only have been 202 murders here this year; if it had Philadelphia's, there would only have been 146; and if Baltimore had New York City's homicide rate, only 40 of its citizens would have lost their lives to violence this year.

The two women murdered last week have been identified. The woman shot in the head on Dec. 23 in the 800 block of South Bouldin Street in Canton was 22-year-old Alaina High. The woman shot repeatedly in the 1900 block of North Broadway, just south of Clifton Park, was Lisa Bushrod, a 42-year-old African-American.

At the end of 2008, one homicide victim from the year still has not been identified. A skeleton was found in a wooded area in the 4800 block of Strathdale Road in Frankford on April 30. Police know the victim was male and was shot to death but they still do not know his name.

Monday, Dec. 29

10:58 p.m. Police were called to the scene of a shooting in the 800 block of Chauncey Avenue in Reservoir Hill. When they arrived, they found a 37-year-old African-American woman shot. She had tried to escape the house, but collapsed in the doorway. She told police that Antonio Coby, a 28-year-old African-American man, had also been shot. He was lying on the kitchen floor. Coby had been shot in the head and was dead. The woman survived.

Tuesday, Dec. 30

12:23 p.m. Someone working on a sewer line in Leakin Park found a badly burned body in the woods. The body was that of Petro Taylor, a 20-year-old African-American man. Police later discovered that Taylor had been beaten to death in the 5800 block of Reisterstown Road. His body was then dumped in Leakin Park.

Thursday, Jan. 1

12:55 a.m. Just after midnight on New Year's Day, Mario Williams, a 31-year-old African-American man from Owings Mills, was shot in the head outside a bar at North Luzerne Avenue and East Monument Street in East Baltimore. He died at an area hospital at 8 p.m. that night.

Friday, Jan. 2

4:56 a.m. Police received a call for a shooting in the 1100 block of Orleans Street just two blocks from Baltimore's main Post Office. There they discovered Marcel Mitchell, a 20-year-old African-American man from East Baltimore, lying in the street shot numerous times. Glenn Cunnigham, a 22-year-old African-American man from Pikesville, was found in the vestibule of an apartment complex in the block. He had also been shot several times. Cunningham was dead. Mitchell was taken to an area hospital but was dead by the time he arrived.

5:37 p.m. Andre Thorpe, a 17-year-old African-American male, was shot in the head in the middle of the street in the 800 block of North Kenwood Avenue. He was taken to a nearby hospital in grave condition and died at the end of the week. This is the second homicide in the Madison-Eastend neighborhood in the first four days of 2009.

Sunday, Jan. 4

7:49 p.m. Trevane Ricks, a 16-year-old African-American male, and an as-yet-unidentified African-American girl, who police believe was also a minor, were shot at an apartment building in the 5600 block of Loch Raven Boulevard near Good Samaritan Hospital. Ricks was shot in the chest and died at a local hospital an hour later. The girl was shot in the side and died at 10:57 p.m. This is the second double homicide in the first four days of 2009.

8:40 p.m. People living in the 4000 block of Chesmont Avenue off Belair Road heard gunshots. When they went outside, they found Lougene Williams III, a 20-year-old African-American man, lying in the middle of the street shot in the right shoulder. He died at a local hospital that night.

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Ramen4ever said:

I put the parts that stood out for me in bold. I'd laugh but it's not funny. 

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Walter said:

Yeah Bobbo, I hear your mayor is facing corruption charges too. What a great start to the year!

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Walter said:

Oh yeah, and regarding Ramen's racial sensitivity above, in journalism, you're actually not supposed to give the race of the suspect or victim when reporting these kinds of police records.

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Griffith said:

Why is that, BTW? Police policy, valid concern about skewing perception, or just pure PC nonsense?

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Vampire_Hunter_Bob said:

Well she's been facing corruption charges since last year, ... I was hearing about how she tried to change how some guy was murdered to a different death. I'm not to sure about that one, I can't find anything about it.

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Walter said:

It's an effort to avoid racial profiling and be nice with public perception, yeah. This is hard for many to accept, but in police work, narrowing down the race is nearly superflous information. "Ok we're looking for a suspect 6'4", 250 lbs! Let's go get him guys. Oh wait, he was black? Wow, now we can limit our search from 12,500 people to 4,500 people! Great work guys!"

Well, what if the guy was just dark skinned? Was he Hispanic or light-skinned African-American? It's better just to avoid the race card. When it comes to searching for a suspect, the more useful information is the context of the crime, witness accounts, video footage, etc.

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Murders This Week: 6
Murders This Year: 13

Monday, Jan. 5

8 a.m. Tian Zin Wang, a 51-year-old Asian man from Columbia who owned the China Garden carry-out restaurant in Oldtown Mall, died. He went to the 800 block of Webb Court just before midnight on Jan. 3 on a delivery order. Wang was robbed and shot numerous times. This is the second time in two months that a delivery person was lured somewhere and then killed, but according to police the two cases are not connected. Wang is the third person murdered in the Oldtown neighborhood in five days.

4:50 p.m. Joshua Harris, a 21-year-old African-American man, was shot in the chest in the 3700 block of Reisterstown Road in Northwest Baltimore. He died at an area hospital at 5:20 p.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 6

2:45 p.m. Police went to a home in the 2800 block of Clearview Avenue near the Northeastern city limit for what they initially believed was a suicide. David Falkinburg, a 45-year-old Caucasian man who lived in the house, was dead from a stab wound to the chest. While investigating, police spoke to a 16-year-old Caucasian male who lived on the same block. According to police, the unnamed minor admitted to getting into a fight with Falkinburg and told police that Falkinburg pulled out a knife. The two wrestled for it, at which point he stabbed Falkinburg. The 16-year-old has been arrested and charged with the murder.

Wednesday, Jan. 7

12:53 p.m. Three men were shot in the 1000 block of North Bond Street in East Baltimore. Antron Betts, a 35-year-old African-American man, was shot repeatedly and died. The other two men, who were shot in the face and the leg, both survived.

Thursday, Jan. 8

10:53 p.m. Police in the Southwest District responded to a shooting in an apartment complex on the 500 block of Dickey Hill Road, where they found a man who was shot in the head. The man, whose name was still not available early this week, was taken to an area hospital, where he was pronounced brain dead at 6:26 p.m. on Jan. 9.

Friday, Jan. 9

3:33 P.M. Bryant Eldridge, a 20-year-old African-American man, was standing in the 3600 block of E. Lombard Street when another man walked up and shot him multiple times, then fled. Eldridge, whose address was unknown to police, was pronounced dead at the scene. There are no suspects and no motives. A Southeast District lieutenant responding to this call was involved in a car accident at the intersection of Lombard and Haven streets, which tied up rush-hour traffic.

Updates
The female shot to death in the 5600 block of Loch Raven Boulevard on Jan. 4 has been identified as Mayresa Craft, a 15-year-old African-American girl from Towson.

U.S. Marshals in Memphis, Tenn. arrested a suspect in Baltimore’s first murder of 2009. Christopher Williams, 24, of the 3900 block of Rodgers Avenue, was held in a Memphis jail awaiting extradition to Baltimore to face charges relating to the New Year’s Eve shooting of his cousin, Mario Williams, on the 700 block of N. Luzerne Avenue.

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Murders this Week: 2
Murders this Year: 16

The name of the man who was shot in the head in an apartment building on Dickey Hill Road on Jan. 8 has been released. He was Kipton Degree, a 23-year-old African-American.

One homicide was accidentally left out of last week's column. On Sunday, Jan. 11, at 7:37 p.m., Shawn Green, a 17-year-old African-American male, was found stabbed in the chest at a bus stop in the 3200 block of the Alameda near Baltimore City College. He died at a local hospital at 10:29 p.m. Including Green's death, there were seven murders last week. Green was the fourth teenager murdered in the first 11 days of this year.

In a column from last month, we also incorrectly spelled the name of a man shot and killed at an apartment house on the 700 block of North Howard Street on Dec. 6. The man's name was Travis Makofski. We regret the error.

The first fatal police-involved shooting of 2009 occurred this week. On Jan. 14 at 9:25 p.m., police were called to the 2700 block of Greenmount Avenue, and when they arrived they saw a man with a duffel bag over his shoulder. The man ran when he saw the officers, who chased him through a series of alleys. They ended up in the 2700 block of Mathews Street behind Greenmount Avenue. According to police, the man then took a rifle out of the duffel bag, turned, and raised his weapon. A detective with the Northern District Gang Unit fired at the man, striking him in the stomach and elbow. The man, who has been identified as 22-year-old African-American Larry Reed, died that morning at a local hospital. Police have declined to give the officer's name.

Wednesday, Jan. 14

8:02 p.m. Ronald Crosby, a 56-year-old African-American man, was shot repeatedly near his home in the 5400 block of Jamestown Court in Westgate near the Western city limit. He died at 7:15 a.m. on Jan. 15.

Saturday, Jan. 17

12:20 a.m. Police discovered a black Infiniti SUV parked in the 1200 block of Bayard Street in Pigtown. The driver's side window was shattered. Inside, they found Jaiwan Jones, a 26-year-old African-American man, in the driver's seat slumped over the center console. He had been shot repeatedly in the left side and was dead.

Updates

On Dec. 31, Brandon Grimes, a 23-year-old African-American man, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus an additional 18 years, for the murder of Baltimore Police Detective Troy Chesley Sr. Grimes shot Chesley to death when he was coming home from work on Jan. 9, 2007. The judge referred to Chesley's murder as "brazen, cowardly, cruel, and unjustified" and said it "calls out for punishment."

Two more people were indicted for the murders of Edward Baylor and Rebecca Meekins. John Jenkins and Donavan Lawrence, 28 and 27-year-old African-American men, respectively, were indicted by the Baltimore City Grand Jury on Jan. 9. Tavon Spruell, a 22-year-old African-American man, was indicted for the murder last summer. On Feb. 27, 2008, Baylor, a 32-year-old African-American man, almost got into a car accident with a Jetta near the Maryland Institute College of Art. Spruell, Jenkins, and Lawrence were allegedly riding in that car. Baylor argued with the party in the Jetta and then pulled over in the 1500 block of West Mount Royal Avenue, at which point someone in the Jetta opened fire, killing Baylor, and Meekins, a 16-year-old Caucasian girl who was sitting in the passenger seat. Shawn Dickey, a 22-year-old African-American man, was convicted of murder, assault, and weapons charges on Jan. 15. Dickey shot Alexander Rose, a 23-year-old African-American man, and another man near Patterson Park on May 22, 2007. Rose died; the other man survived.

On Jan. 16, five people were indicted by the Baltimore City Grand Jury for the murder of a 14-year-old African-American male named Steven Graham. Joseph Richardson, a 53-year-old African-American man, was arrested on Dec. 23. Lawrence Lewis, a 46-year-old African-American man, Patricia Trusty, a 53-year-old African-American woman, and Virgil Hitchen, a 43-year-old African-American man, were arrested at their homes on Christmas Eve. Michael Hitchen, a 35-year-old African-American man, was arrested on Jan. 2. According to police, the defendants were at a drug house on Nov. 18, 2008. The house was robbed, and the defendants fled the house. They saw Graham who they recognized from the neighborhood and believed was friends with the people who robbed the drug house. The group allegedly then got in a car, drove up to Graham, who was riding a bike in the 400 block of Maude Avenue in Brooklyn, and shot him to death.

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handsome rakshas said:

Be careful out there Bob!

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Uriel said:

... yay College Park?

Remind me not to goto Baltimore this year... for anything. Stay safe out there, Bobert.

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Vampire_Hunter_Bob said:

You think College Park is better? Enjoy getting hit by a drunk college student.

Baltimore it's self is a fine place to go to as long as you stay out of an area with poor lighting or John Hopkins.

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Deci said:

Not that much different from living in Atlanta. Cops don't even care if you're driving drunk, they'll let you go, they're looking for meth labs, rapists, serial killers, and bank robbers.

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I hate to say it, but if you get pulled over in Atlanta and you're white, you'll probably get a quick search and sent on your way as long as you don't fit the above criteria.

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