The fatal shooting of a Pigtown barmaid two weeks ago has led to the arrest of four teen-agers, including twins and a 15-year-old girl who police allege pulled the trigger, authorities said.
The suspects were being questioned last night by homicide detectives, who said the barmaid was shot once in the neck when she could not open the cash register during a late-night robbery attempt at the bar on Sargeant Street Feb. 11.
Theresa Elaine Ambrose, 35, of the 3700 block of Century Ave. in Lansdowne died of her wounds the next day at the Maryland Shock Trauma Center. She was standing behind the bar at Rainbow's Pigtown Bar, in the 1100 block of Sargeant St., when she was shot.
Robert W. Weinhold Jr., a police spokesman, would not divulge what led detectives to the suspects, although they were given a description of three youths from a patron who grappled with one of the suspects as they escaped about 11: 40 that night.
Neighbors were relieved to hear of the arrests yesterday, but bitterness over the shooting remained high.
"I think they ought to take [the suspects] up to the zoo, put them in the lion cage and let the lions have at them," said Steve #F Saffran, 41, a lifelong Pigtown resident who was in the bar an hour before the shooting.
The bar was closed yesterday, with a cardboard sign and flowers commemorating Ambrose.
"It was just a family bar," said Lloyd Parker, 64, who said he was a pallbearer at Ambrose's funeral. "Now everybody in the neighborhood don't know where to go."
Police made their first arrests yesterday about 8: 30 a.m. when members of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force forced their way into a home in the 2400 block of Woodbrook Ave. in Northwest Baltimore.
Police said they found Lamont Anthony Lewis, 18, of the 2500 block of Madison Ave. in West Baltimore hiding in the basement.
About 3 p.m., police arrested Carl Brown, 18, and his twin sister, Carlita Brown, outside their home in the 2400 block of Woodbrook Ave., the same rowhouse in which Lewis had been arrested.
A few minutes later, police arrested the 15-year-old girl outside the same house. She was identified as Carleana Kirby of the 2400 block of Liberty Heights Ave. and was charged as an adult with first-degree murder and attempted armed robbery.
The other three suspects also were charged with first-degree murder and attempted armed robbery. All four were being held last night without bail at the Central Booking and Intake Center, pending a court hearing Monday.
Police did not say whether they recovered a weapon or whether they knew why the Southwest Baltimore bar was targeted.
Pub Date: 2/28/98
