While on probation for a gun arrest, Michael Blackwell, 27, walked up to a teenager standing on an East Baltimore corner. He pulled out a gun and shot the teen in the head several times, leaving him to die in a pool of blood, police say. Later that night at Johns Hopkins Hospital, a woman arrived to identify the dead young man as her brother, Davon Qualls, 17.
Qualls was one of 22 people slain on the streets of Baltimore in September, bringing the total of homicides this year to 231 ? 19 more than the 212 killed this time last year. Police have solved 81 – 35 percent – of this year?s homicides.
“The citizens of Baltimore are tired of having a high crime rate,” said University of Baltimore criminologist Jeffrey Ian Ross. “They?re frustrated with slogans and programs that are not there for the long haul.”
Qualls? murder also underscores another problem that permeates the city: a revolving door of felons leaving a trail of blood on the streets of Baltimore.
Of 104 murder suspects arrested by Baltimore police this year:
» 97 percent have previous arrest records.
» 80 percent have previous drug arrests.
» 69 percent have previous arrests for violent crimes.
» 49 percent have previous arrests for gun crimes.
» 36 percent were on probation at the time of their homicide arrests.
“Obviously, there?s a disconnect and there?s a failure in the criminal justice system,” Ross said of the numbers. “I don?t understand why they?re being released if there?s a gun crime.”
In Blackwell?s case, the answer is easy. After prosecutors convicted him of illegally possessing a handgun in a vehicle in May 2006, he was sentenced to 18 months in jail. But the sentence was suspended, and he was instead placed on probation.
Despite what seems to be a revolving door, Baltimore police insist they?re making progress. September was the city?s second-least murderous month this year, and shootings are decreasing, they said.
“Twenty-two homicides is still 22 more than it should be,” said Baltimore police spokesman Sterling Clifford. “You won?t see any victory dances in the hallways. But I know that progress is being made. We?re moving in the right direction.”
Clifford said police are also attacking one of the main weapons used in the drug trade ? illegal guns. Police have seized 2,551 guns this year, compared with 2,237 this time last year.
Officers are also working on strengthening rapport with Baltimore residents in an effort to get more leads and solve more cases.
Morgan State student Richard Asare, 24, was shot to death in broad daylight along the busy 1300 block of East Cold Spring Lane on Sept. 17, but Clifford said the community is offering very little help.
“What we need is people?s outrage toward the violence in the city to be directed toward working with the police to put an end to it,” Clifford said. “This young man was shot in broad daylight along a busy street. There should be a line of people waiting to tell police what happened and what they saw.”
Baltimore attorney Dwight Pettit said the police department?s relationship with city residents will not improve overnight. Pettit blamed the strain on aggressive tactics employed during the eight-year tenure of the former mayor, Gov. Martin O?Malley.
“I get so many police brutality calls,” Pettit said. “I get 20 to 25 a week. The acts of the O?Malley administration led to the police department not being a friend to the community. So they don?t get the cooperation of the community. Instead, you have anarchy, chaos and turmoil.”
Ross said that the situation likely will remain unchanged unless there are more job opportunities for young men in Baltimore.
But there?s a catch, Ross said: The jobs have to pay well.
“The drug trade is very lucrative,” he said. “Nobody is going to give up a flexible, lucrative means of supporting themselves to get a Mickey Mouse job.”
September Homicide Victims
» Sept. 1: Gary Watts, 21, shooting
» Sept. 4: Jasmine Borum, 17, shooting
» Sept. 4: Pauline Borum, 60, shooting
» Sept. 4: Davon Qualls, 17, shooting *
» Sept. 7: Barry Newman, 29, shooting
» Sept. 10: Khonji Walton, 27, shooting
» Sept. 14: Qasim Kabah, 29, stabbing
» Sept. 15: John Christen, 20, shooting
» Sept. 15: Brian Smith, 27, shooting
» Sept. 16: Tyrone Jones, 26, shooting
» Sept. 16: Deion Morris, 23, shooting
» Sept. 16: Channing Myrick, 26, shooting
» Sept. 17: Richard Asare, 24, shooting
» Sept. 17: Glenn Conley, 25, shooting
» Sept. 19: Darrick Harris, 40, shooting
» Sept. 22: Robert Rutledge, 40, shooting
» Sept. 22: William Diven, 46, blunt force trauma
» Sept. 25: Richard Ray, 37, stabbing
» Sept. 25: Keith Ray, 25, shooting
» Sept. 26: Alferd Smith, 56, stabbing
» Sept. 28: Jason Fortune, 24, shooting
* Resulted in arrest
» Number of September homicides: 22
» Number of September homicides closed: 1
Homicides by county
2007 homicides, followed by 2007 homicides closed, for counties in Maryland:
» Anne Arundel County: 18, 11
» Baltimore City: 231, 81
» Baltimore County: 32, 24
» Carroll County: 1, 1
» Harford County: 6, 2
» Howard County: 5, 3
Source: Area police departments
