As more violence battered an already bruised Edgewood neighborhood, one activist wants to help the offenders.
Mildred Samy, whose son was murdered on a summer day in the streets of Edgewood, plans to meet with Harford County Executive David Craig and the local Department of Parole and Probation next month about starting a program to help people with a criminal record get and keep a job.
“I said it years ago: You need to get these people to work so they have some self-worth,” Samy said. “I?m hoping by teaching them self-respect, it will teach them to respect other people?s lives, because right now they don?t care.”
And the violence has continued.
Andre Overton, 31, was shot in the neck at 4 a.m. Saturday in his apartment on the 1800 block of Edgewater Drive in Edgewood, said Sgt. Christina Presberry, spokeswoman for the Harford sheriff?s office. That was less than a mile from where his 21-year-old brother, Walter Overton, was murdered on New Year?s Day.
Overton is in stable condition at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore City, and police are searching for two suspects, Presberry said.
In addition, a gas station was robbed Friday evening at the entrance to the neighborhood, Presberry said.
The news was disheartening to Samy, who has patrolled Edgewood streets with a bullhorn, crying out for residents to take back the Edgewater Village neighborhood.
“At one point, I thought we were getting it somewhat under control,” Samy said. “But it looks like it?s gone right back to where it was.”
Meanwhile, the Guardian Angels are in talks with county officials about patrolling the area and are ready to help.
“But I really want to work with the sheriff?s office and not interfere in what they?re trying to do,” said Marcus Dent, head of the Baltimore Guardian Angels chapter.
Dent said he plans to meet with Sheriff Jesse Bane the first week in January, and if given the go-ahead, he could have a dozen Guardian Angels from Baltimore City patrolling Edgewood in a week.
Fast fact
Nine shootings have occurred in Edgewood this year, according to the Harford Sheriff?s Office.
