Teen charged in slaying of boy, 14

An East Baltimore teen-ager was charged yesterday with murder in the slaying of a 14-year-old boy who was gunned down Wednesday night on West Lexington Street.

Leon Wilson, 17, was arrested at his home in the 600 block of E. Chase St. about 6 a.m. Police took him to the Western District and charged him with first-degree murder and a felony handgun violation in the shooting death of Raheem Moore, 14.

The Moore boy was shot twice in the chest Wednesday evening in the 800 block of W. Lexington St. and was pronounced dead in an ambulance en route to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center at 7:10 p.m. He lived in the 700 block of W. Saratoga St., less than two blocks from where he was shot. Nine shots were fired into a crowd of people after a brief argument, police said.

One bullet grazed an 18-year-old man on the left side of his forehead. Leroy Durant of the 900 block of W. Lexington St. was treated and released yesterday from the trauma center. Police did not release any more details about the shooting but insist that the Moore boy had been the intended victim.

"We know that there was a dispute, but as to the nature of the dispute, it's unknown," Officer Robert W. Weinhold Jr., a police spokesman, said.

The Wilson youth was charged as an adult.

He also is scheduled to go on trial on Feb. 24 on unrelated charges of sports gambling and handgun possession.