Here is a revealing article from today's paper.
This in a state that essentially prohibits CCW permits.
The article is long, but the summation at the bottom reveals the pattern of who is involved in these crimes...criminals...go figure...
This article reads like an advertisment for 2nd amendement Rights.
From: http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/01_28-95/TOP
This in a state that essentially prohibits CCW permits.
The article is long, but the summation at the bottom reveals the pattern of who is involved in these crimes...criminals...go figure...
This article reads like an advertisment for 2nd amendement Rights.
From: http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/01_28-95/TOP
Clear patterns, few answers in city killings
[SIZE=-2][FONT=helvetica, arial]Most happened near public housing, involved men with criminal histories[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=-2][FONT=helvetica, arial]By HEATHER RAWLYK and ERIC HARTLEY Staff Writers[/FONT][/SIZE]
A man is shot twice during a botched drug deal. Another is felled in a drive-by shooting. Yet another steps outside to smoke a cigarette and catches a bullet apparently meant for someone else.
Many of the record-high eight homicides in Annapolis last year were unrelated, seemingly random bursts of violence like these. But a review of the killings and the background of those involved shows the similarities are more striking than the differences. Most of the killings happened in or near drug-plagued public housing communities, and many of the victims and suspects had criminal records.
"What we have here isn't little old ladies getting shot," said city Police Chief Joseph S. Johnson.
The eight homicides also included a city police officer's May 5 shooting of a man who'd aimed a gun at a state trooper.
Most of those charged in the crimes had long criminal records. Almost all had been arrested before, and for some, the murder charges capped a decade or more of repeated convictions and chances at probation.
Prosecutors believe judges' leniency is part of the problem.
"They're the ones who put them on probation," State's Attorney Frank Weathersbee said. "They're the ones who tell them don't commit any more crimes. And then when they commit another crime, they don't follow through. What a horrible message that (sends) the individual who's committing these crimes."
Yet while seeing such patterns is relatively easy, identifying solutions is far tougher.
"Even though Annapolis is a small city, it has some big urban problems," said Antonio Brown, a community activist who lives in Bywater.
Any reduction in violence will come through some combination of policing, sentencing, political leadership, education, community activism, family support and individual responsibility. Mouthing platitudes is easy; connecting those threads is not.
To those in the more picturesque parts of Annapolis, and the rest of the county, the problems of poor parts of the city might seem quite removed from their lives. But in fact, the people buying the drugs that feed the violence come from everywhere: the tonier parts of the city, Severna Park, Arnold, Edgewater and beyond.
"It's not a black problem; it's a city problem," Mr. Brown said.
Torria Evans Watkins, whose brother Benjamin Evans was killed in Robinwood in February when he went outside for a cigarette, worries her own sons could face a similar fate if things stay the same.
Mrs. Watkins said she never worried about her brother because he stayed out of trouble; he was never convicted of a crime. But now she's not so sure.
Her 18-year-old daughter joined the military to get an education. Her boys are just 6 and 12.
"They're black males and they live in a society where guns and prevalent," she said. "They could just be innocent bystanders - like my brother."
Though she can't necessarily prevent that, Mrs. Watkins is trying her best to keep her kids out of trouble.
"I have them in after-school programs, and they go the Boys and Girls Club," she said. "I'm doing whatever I can."
Connections
For a long time, Sheku Koroma and Rico Brown, who grew up together in Bywater, were much like boys anywhere. They and a half-a-dozen other neighborhood kids formed a tight group, even carving their names into the apple tree that sits near Mr. Brown's home.
Mr. Koroma was so funny he reminded Mr. Brown's father, Antonio Brown, of "a little Bernie Mac," though his teasing sometimes got him in trouble.
But as time went on, Mr. Koroma was drawn to the trappings of drug dealing. Before he turned 18, Antonio Brown recalled, he was showing off his shiny Lexus in the neighborhood.
And as he kept selling drugs, he got a gun that he waved around to show off.
"I just knew that it was going to be a matter of time," Mr. Brown said.
He was right: On Dec. 14, Mr. Koroma, 23, was killed in a drive-by shooting in Bywater. He had moved to Laurel, but still came back to his former home often.
Gary Ellis Brown of Glen Burnie has been charged with first-degree murder. Court documents shined little light on the motive and city police declined to talk about the case because Mr. Brown hasn't gone to trial.
Meanwhile, Rico Brown has had a much different life. He's a manager in the detailing department of a car dealership and just had his first child, a boy.
The contrasting fates of Mr. Koroma and Mr. Brown shed light not just on the causes of the violence, but on the solutions, too.
Mr. Brown grew up in a tough neighborhood, but in his home the kids had a curfew. They might not have liked it at the time, peering out the window as their friends still roamed the streets at midnight. But as they grew, they saw the wisdom of their parents' discipline, Antonio Brown said.
"None of my kids smoke, drink or cuss," he said. "It's not about where you grow up. ... It comes down to family and community."
But in the meantime, the silent majority of people in public housing who work and try to raise their families in peace are overshadowed by the gunplay, worried someone they love might be the next Benjamin Evans.
Annapolis is world-famous as the capital of Maryland, a tourist destination with Colonial charm and a sailing Mecca.
It also has what's been called the highest per-capita concentration of public housing in the country, with more than 1,100 public housing units in a city of about 36,000 people.
Five of the eight homicides in 2006 were committed inside or just bordering a public housing community - two in Robinwood, one in Harbor House, one near Bloomsbury Square and one on Bowman Court. Neighborhoods that border public housing, like Bywater, have many of the same problems.
But city Alderman David Cordle pointed out a striking fact: None of the people charged in last year's slayings lived in public housing - at least not officially.
People who aren't supposed to be in public housing, who in many cases have been banned because of drug dealing or other actions, are in fact routinely selling drugs, hanging out and even living there.
"They're living there, yet their driver's license says Glen Burnie," said Mr. Cordle, who's also involved in city homicide cases as the chief investigator for the State's Attorney's Office.
Gary Brown is a good example - when arrested in the killing, his listed address was Glen Burnie. But he's listed an Annapolis address during most of his numerous arrests.
And even when such people are chased off or imprisoned, there seems to be a never-ending supply of replacements.
"You can arrest one guy, but then someone jumps in their place," Mr. Cordle said.
Solutions
Policing alone can't stop the violence; people don't tend to pull the trigger while the patrol car is around. Families can play a role, but not every family is willing or able to help. Education is key, but kids can't be forced to graduate.
It all leaves those who run the city throwing their hands up.
"Give me some new ideas," Mayor Ellen O. Moyer said in December. "What is it we're missing? Where are we missing the boat?"
The mayor has held public meetings across the city, including in public housing, to get residents' input. But so far there's been little progress.
Serious crimes, which dipped 9 percent in 2005, were up 12 percent last year, though police said they were still below levels reached in the 1990s.
While no one can predict which petty criminal is going to become a killer, Mr. Weathersbee said judges too often give people not just second chances, but third and fourth chances and beyond. Some people are on probation in several cases at once.
Mr. Weathersbee, who reviews every probation violation himself, said it's his office's policy to ask for all the suspended prison time in a probation case to be imposed if the defendant commits a new crime. He said that happens sometimes, but not often enough.
"It's like raising children. You can't tell them, 'No, or else,' and then there's no 'or else,' " Mr. Weathersbee said. "As long as you're not going to punish them, they're going to keep doing what they're doing."
In a recent interview, Ronald A. Silkworth, a longtime county Circuit Court judge, said it's not that simple.
He said it's the nature of serious addiction that people hooked on drugs - who make up a huge portion of criminal defendants - often try and fail several times before succeeding. And as tempting as it seems, judges can't simply throw them all away to long prison terms, because many of them will succeed if given time, Judge Silkworth said.
One common solution to crime in public housing - banning people with criminal records from the communities and arresting them for trespassing if they're caught there - is hit-or-miss.
A loitering bill and a proposed juvenile curfew, which would allow police to kick people off corners even if they haven't committed a crime, have gone nowhere, Mr. Cordle said.
A recent walk around Robinwood and Bywater produced few answers. No one wanted to give their name to a reporter, and those who would talk anonymously could offer little insight. Mostly unspoken is the fear of being targeted for speaking out. It's the same reason people hesitate to call the police, residents say.
Mr. Brown said there have been times he's made a dozen calls in a day to report drug deals or gunfire. An ex-soldier, he'll also go outside himself to challenge young drug dealers - which, to be sure, isn't something everyone should do.
His block, he said, is one of the quietest around.
"You can do these things and change your street," he said. "But you can't just peep through the blinds."
***
A look at the victims and suspects in the record eight killings in the city
1 — Jan. 6
Victim
Azakia Tynadra Mitchell
Age: 18 months
Sex: Female
Race: Black
Home: 2 Bens Drive, Annapolis
Where killed: Home
Date and time: Jan. 6, evening
Manner of death: Beaten by her mother’s boyfriend, suffered a collapsed lung and head trauma. Her mother, Sharmaine Williams, left her children with Gerald Parker. When Ms. Williams returned home, she thought the children were sleeping and didn’t realize until the next morning Azakia was dead.
Biography: Born June 12, 2004, she lived in Annapolis with her mother and two siblings.
Killer
Gerald Edwin Parker
Age: 25
Sex: Male
Race: Black
Home: Calvert County
Charges: Convicted July 25 of child abuse resulting in death. Sentenced to 10 years in prison under a plea agreement. He could be out on parole in as little as five years.
Criminal history: Has convictions for assault and trespassing, as well as traffic charges. No apparent felony convictions before the killing.
2 — Jan. 13
Victim
Darnell Lovell Brown
Age: 35
Sex: Male
Race: Black
Home: Dogwood Road, Annapolis
Where killed: Near Bloomsbury Square
Date and time: Jan. 13, afternoon
Manner of death: He was shot twice in what police call a botched drug deal. Police said he had been known to deal drugs in the Clay Street area and sometimes sold fake drugs or empty bags. The husband and wife charged with killing him were apparently customers; phone records showed he made calls to them the day he was killed. His body was found near the campus of St. John’s College.
Criminal history: He had a string of arrests between 1991 and 2003 and violated probation several times. The convictions included distribution of drugs, drug possession theft.
Biography: Born in Annapolis, he went to Annapolis High School and had worked at a Shell gas station. His wife of five years, Monica Brown, said he enjoyed football and playing dominoes. He had three godchildren, ages 2, 4 and 6, who adored him. And he had many friends around Annapolis. “He knew just about everybody,” Mrs. Brown said. “Everybody really liked him.”
Accused
James Desmond Jones
Age: 40
Sex: Male
Race: White
Home: 11299 Station Road, Worton
Charges: Charged with first-degree murder; trial set for April 2
Criminal history: He was convicted in Kent County last year of drug possession and resisting arrest.
Tammie Evelyn Jones
Age: 39
Sex: Female
Race: White
Home: 11299 Station Road, Worton
Charges: Charged with first-degree murder; trial set for April 23
Criminal history: She has faced traffic charges and has trials pending in Cecil County and Talbot counties on charges of theft, failing to obey a lawful order and unlawful taking of a motor vehicle.
3 — Feb. 25
Victim
Benjamin “Benjie” Philip Evans Jr.
Age: 25
Sex: Male
Race: Black
Home: Annapolis
Where killed: 1300 block of Tyler Avenue, Robinwood
Date and time: Feb. 25, 1:15 a.m.
Manner of death: Shot after he went outside for a cigarette and shouted at a man who was firing a gun. It’s unclear whether the shooter aimed at Mr. Evans because he spoke up, or whether he was hit randomly.
Criminal history: Never convicted of a crime.
Biography: A native of Annapolis, Mr. Evans played basketball and football in youth leagues and for Annapolis High School. He transferred to a military academy his junior year in high school and eventually earned a GED. A “family man,” in the words of his sister, he was visiting his girlfriend and his two children in Robinwood the night he was killed. He went outside for a cigarette because he didn’t want the smoke to bother the kids.
Killer
Derrick Lamont Brown
Age: 21
Sex: Male
Race: Black
Home: 654 Charante Court, Glen Burnie
Charges: Pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Criminal history: In 2006, he pleaded guilty to drug distribution and received a suspended sentence, having served a month and a half awaiting trial. Another drug distribution case was dropped after he was sentenced for the murder, and other arrests didn’t result in convictions.
4 — May 5
Victim
Roger Alan Trott
Age: 34
Sex: Male
Race: White
Home: Frankford, Del. (formerly of Cape St. Claire)
Where killed: Admiral Drive at Moreland Parkway, near Bowman Court
Date and time: May 5, 10:30 p.m.
Manner of death: He was shot by an Annapolis police officer after pointing a gun at a state trooper and refusing commands to drop it, authorities said. Police said Mr. Trott had dragged the trooper with his car and tried to drive off in the police car before city officers arrived. The trooper had tried to stop Mr. Trott for a drug violation.
Criminal history: He had a series of arrests between 1991 and 2006 and convictions for charges including assault with intent to maim, fleeing and eluding police, theft, distribution of drugs, possession of drugs and battery.
Biography: A native of Cape St. Claire, Mr. Trott struggled with addictions to PCP and crack cocaine his entire adult life, said his longtime girlfriend, Donna Walter, with whom he had a 16-year-old daughter. Ms. Walter said he had seemed to have conquered his problems and was planning to go to school in Michigan to learn how to work on hydraulic equipment, but had a relapse. Weeks before his death, he had tried to jump off the Bay Bridge, and his bizarre actions the night he was killed show he must have been on drugs, Ms. Walter said. He was in prison much of the 16 years they were together, but she stayed with him because of the man he was without the drugs. “He was just a sweet guy,” she said.
Shot by: Officer Sean McGarvey, Annapolis Police Department
5 — May 26
Victim
Jose David Martinez
Age: 36
Sex: Male
Race: Hispanic
Home: Bowie
Where killed: 2100 block of Old Forest Drive
Date and time: May 26, 11:30 p.m.
Manner of death: Mr. Martinez was with friends in a wooded area behind Parole liquors when they heard a noise and shined a flashlight in that direction. They saw two men crouched next to a tree, and one of Mr. Martinez’s friends threw a bottle at them. Someone fired at them, hitting Mr. Martinez in the head and killing him. Police said the men had come to rob Hispanics they knew were in the area, reflecting a growing trend in the city.
Accused
Tony Tahzay Brown
Age: 20
Sex: Male
Race: Black
Home: 112 Old Solomons Island Road
Charges: First-degree murder; trial set for March 19.
Criminal history: He was convicted of assault in 2004 and got probation before judgment for drug possession in 2005.
6 — July 2
Victim
James Maurice Coates
Age: 22
Sex: Male
Race: Black
Home: Glen Burnie (no family living there now)
Where killed: 1350 Tyler Ave., Robinwood
Date and time: July 2, 12:25 a.m.
Manner of death: Shot twice
Criminal history: In 2004, he was convicted of assault, carrying a handgun and reckless endangerment. Though he listed a Glen Burnie address, he spent time in Annapolis, having been pulled over for a traffic violation in Bywater weeks before his death.
Accused
Demarrow Patrick Spencer
Age: 26
Sex: Male
Race: Black
Home: 6508 Ridgebourne Road, Rosedale
Charges: First-degree murder; trial set for April 10
Criminal history: His criminal history starts at age 17 with an arrest in Baltimore County that resulted in a conviction for robbery with a deadly weapon. Subsequent convictions, mainly in Baltimore County, include theft, making a false statement, giving a fictitious name to police, robbery, marijuana possession and disorderly conduct.
7 — Oct. 12
Victim
Jamore Van Johnson
Age: 39
Sex: Male
Race: Black
Home: Annapolis
Where killed: 1145 Madison St., Harbor House public housing community
Date and time: Oct. 12, 1:15 a.m.
Manner of death: Shot several times in the chest
Criminal record: He had close to 20 convictions between 1989 and 2005 for offenses including battery, drug possession, carrying a handgun, resisting arrest and assault.
Biography: Known as “Moe,” Mr. Johnson was born Sept. 24, 1967, in Annapolis and graduated from Annapolis High School. He was a member of the First Baptist Church. His interests were motorcycles, racing cars and skiing.
Accused
Keith Deon Brown
Age: 26
Sex: Male
Race: Black
Home: 1805 Schooner Court, Annapolis
Charges: First-degree murder; no trial date set.
Criminal history: Convictions include conspiracy to manufacture or distribute drugs, having a handgun in a vehicle and having a handgun on his person. In 1999, he got five years in prison for a drug charge. While serving that, he was sentenced to four years for violating probation on a 1998 charge of possession of drugs with the intent to distribute.
Ryan Burton Wheeler
Age: 26
Sex: Male
Race: Black
Home: 508 Royal St., Annapolis
Charges: First-degree murder; no trial date set
Criminal history: From 2000 to 2005, he was arrested several times on drug, assault and firearms charges, but never convicted.
8 — Dec. 14
Victim
Sheku Magba Koroma Jr.
Age: 23
Sex: Male
Race: Black
Home: Laurel (formerly of Bywater)
Where killed: 900 block of Royal Street, Bywater community
Date and time: Shot Dec. 14, 9:30 p.m. Died Dec. 24.
Manner of death: Shot multiple times as he was standing outside. The shots came from a silver car that witnesses identified. It was later traced to a suspect, who has been arrested. Police declined to discuss the possible motive. Mr. Koroma died on Christmas Eve in the hospital.
Criminal history: a 2004 disorderly conduct that prosecutors put on an inactive docket, a 2004 trespassing for which he got probation before judgement. A neighbor said he sold drugs but hadn’t been charged with doing so.
Biography: He grew up in Bywater section of Annapolis and was friends with many young people in the neighborhood. He was hilarious — “little Bernie Mac,” recalled Antonio Brown, whose son was friends with Mr. Koroma. But Mr. Brown said his flirtation with drugs cost him his life: “It sort of breaks my heart, but it’s something that I just knew was inevitable.”
Accused
Gary Ellis Brown
Age: 36
Sex: Male
Race: Black
Home: 303 Oak Manor Drive, Glen Burnie
Charges: First-degree murder. No trial date set.
Criminal history: In 1992, he was convicted of being an accessory after the fact to murder and sentenced to five years in prison. Other convictions have included drug distribution, drug possession, resisting arrest and assault. In 2004, a judge sentenced him to seven years for violating his probation on a drug case. But in January 2006, the court allowed him into drug treatment.
