A 14-year-old boy who turned himself in to police late Friday has been charged as an adult in the fatal stabbing of a classmate at a West Baltimore middle school, an act that the suspect's attorney and law-enforcement sources say followed a long-running feud between the two teenagers.
Timothy Oxendine of the 2800 block of Elgin Ave. was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Markel Williams, 15, police said in charging documents. The victim was found behind William H. Lemmel Middle School with multiple stab wounds to his upper body early Friday afternoon.
Williams, of the 3200 block of Westmont Ave., was pronounced dead at Sinai Hospital.
FOR THE RECORD - Several articles and headlines about the Nov. 21 stabbing death of Markel Williams, a 15-year-old student at William H. Lemmel Middle School, did not provide sufficient context about the history of violence in Baltimore schools. On Jan. 17, 2001, just before school began, Juan Matthews was fatally shot near the entrance of Lake Clifton-Eastern High School. The Baltimore Sun regrets the errors.
It was the first killing of a student on city school grounds during school hours in more than 20 years. City schools chief Andres Alonso and Mayor Sheila Dixon arrived at the school in the 2800 block of N. Dukeland St. soon after the stabbing to speak with teachers and students.
Oxendine's attorney, Patrick Todd Williams, and police sources who asked not to be identified because the investigation is continuing said that bullying might have been a factor.
"The initial info that I have is that this is about bullying, and that Timothy felt very threatened by the victim," the attorney said. "I don't have the exact extent of it yet, but it goes back for a while."
The suspect, who has no prior juvenile arrests or criminal record, was so fearful that he had stopped attending school, Patrick Williams said.
Markel Williams, meanwhile, was "known to police" in the Northwest District and had been placed on a list of the area's most-troubled juveniles, said Officer Troy Harris, a police spokesman. Markel Williams had been arrested several times, but the details of those charges were not available because they were juvenile records.
Charging documents obtained by The Baltimore Sun yesterday said that the two students were involved in an "ongoing dispute" and that witnesses identified Oxendine as the assailant on Friday.
According to the charging documents, Oxendine began walking through the halls of the school shortly before 1 p.m. searching for Markel Williams with the intent to harm him. The documents say Oxendine told other students before the altercation, "I am going to booking!" - a reference to the city's Central Booking and Intake Center, where new arrestees are processed.
Reached by phone, Oxendine's aunt referred all questions to her nephew's attorney. No one answered the door at the victim's home early yesterday evening.
