Gang member sentenced to life in prison in killing
A man with ties to the violent Salvadoran street gang known as MS-13 was sentenced yesterday to life in prison in the fatal shooting of a Dundalk woman over an alleged drug debt. Abraham Urquilla "Tigre" Rauda, 23, of Rosedale was convicted in July of first-degree murder, burglary and handgun charges. He was arrested in New York in September 2007, 11 days after witnesses said he was one of three or four men who broke into Lymaris Mejias' house in Dundalk and shot her in the head while she slept. Witnesses told authorities that a Baltimore drug dealer with ties to MS-13 had threatened the woman's life over a debt, according to court documents. Baltimore County Circuit Judge Vicki Ballou-Watts sentenced Rauda to life in prison for the fatal shooting and concurrent sentences of 10 years and 20 years, respectively, for the handgun and burglary convictions, said Baltimore County prosecutor John Magee.
Jennifer McMenamin
'Security breakdowns' noted in teens' escapes
The August escape of three teenage boys from a locked facility - the 11th in the past year and a half - resulted from "multiple security breakdowns," and the Department of Juvenile Justice must do more to prevent such breaches, the state juvenile justice monitor said in a report yesterday. In a written response, juvenile services officials said they have been making security improvements, including the installation of fence security systems and improved video surveillance and community notification. The monitor's 12-page report focused on the Aug. 10 escape of three teens from the Cheltenham Youth Facility in Prince George's County, a secure detention center for boys awaiting trial in juvenile court. Two 18-year-olds and a 17-year-old used wire-cutters stolen from the campus woodshop to cut through a razor-wire fence and flee on foot. The report said Cheltenham employees failed to keep watch over their charges; one of the escapees had been on suicide watch, meaning that he should have been under near-constant supervision. The escapees were recaptured within a week. Two Cheltenham employees were fired and two more disciplined because of policy violations surrounding the escape, according to juvenile services.
Julie Bykowicz
Police seek shooter in West Baltimore killing
