Mark Henson, 18, was shot several times in the head. Markel Williams, 15, was stabbed on the grounds of a middle school — during school hours. And Perrish Parker, 14, Darren Davis, 26, and Troy Brown, 45, were gunned down in the street — together.

The violence continues.

Thirty-one homicides in November, punctuated by six on the month’s final night — the most on any day in 2008. It was the deadliest month of the year.

“It’s economic hard times,” said Baltimore police Col. Rick Hite, who works in community relations. “There are peaks and valleys in this work. We’re in desperate times.”

Hite was quick to point out that despite November’s blood bath, the city is on pace for its lowest homicide rate in about 20 years.

Through Dec. 2, the city’s 2008 homicide total was 216, compared with 268 for the same time last year.

“We are starting to see a turning point,” he said.

Of the 31 killed last month, 21 were shot to death. It’s gun violence that is still the city’s biggest problem, police said.

Hite and Officers Darren Moore and Keith Harrison walked the streets of West Baltimore on Friday, passing out fliers in an attempt to dissuade people from turning to guns and drugs.

The fliers showed Akiba Matthews — the cameraman in the infamous “Stop Snitching” video, designed to intimidate witnesses — who is  serving 30 years in federal prison on a gun conviction.

“He’s not smiling like he is in the video,” Hite said of Matthews’ face on the fliers. “Baltimore is no longer looked upon as a center point in the country for ‘Stop Snitching.’ It lets folks know it’s OK to sit out on your porch again.”

But young teens ran from the cops as the officers approached, and some residents argued with the police. One man objected to the long sentence for Matthews, saying such incarceration could happen “only in America.”

Still, there was positive feedback.

Near the corner of Monroe and Lafayette streets, the officers talked with Anthony Parham, 35, who said he was on probation for drug charges. Parham said he wouldn’t pass judgment on Matthews, but he told the officers he would pass on the message to the teens to stay away from guns.

With Parham was Tonya Johnson, who said she thought the fliers would be effective.

“[Teens] are going to see it’s somebody who’s real,” she said of Matthews. “I’ve got a lot of kids I want to show this to.” 

The officers said that’s the message they’re trying to convey.

“It’s older brothers like you who have got to get through to the young people,” Harrison said.

Baltimore police spokesman Donny Moses said one of the biggest problems officers still encounter is the “Stop Snitching” mentality that keeps witnesses from talking and officers from solving cases. That mentality is being changed, he said, by successful prosecutions, even if it’s kept this year’s homicide closure rate low.

“A lot of violent felons … they may slip through the cracks at the state level,” he said. “The federal prosecutors will pick up the case and try these individuals.”

Moses said Matthews was a wanted man for some time by the department.

“I worked with a lot of officers and detectives who chased Akiba Matthews, and he was able to get away. This is gratification at a later date.” 

Hite said officers need to be as creative as the criminals in spreading their message.

“They used the media as a tool to send a message that it was OK to be involved in violence and criminal behavior,” he said. “We want to send a message that we’re going to expose them for the frauds that they are.

“[Matthews] will not see his family for 30 years. It’s not attractive to be a criminal in Baltimore City.”

November homicide victims