Harford man dies at illicit party

Shooting death of 22-year-old at fire hall is area's second such incident this month

Daphne Alston said the family was hoping that whoever shot Tariq would turn himself in. "Don't have the police drag you in," she said.

Tariq Alston's girlfriend, Shaquae Edwards, 17, of Edgewood, called him a "loving person who didn't like confrontation and didn't bother people. I really want to find out what happened."

Mildred Samy, a community activist in Edgewood, had recently enrolled Alston, who had a minor criminal record that included trespassing convictions, in an ex-offender program she began with the Sheriff's Department.

"We have to help these young men get work or go back to school," she said. "Tariq wanted to work, but he could not find a job."

Alston was a longtime friend of Samy's son Sam Horne, who was killed in Edgewood last summer.

"Tariq came to court with me, called me 'Mom,' and has sat at my son's grave for hours," Samy said. "Now I am burying another young man. I can't imagine anyone shooting Tariq. He was not a violent person. His family has no idea why this happened."

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