Two homicides have been added to the city's tally for this year, stemming from incidents that occurred in 2005 and 2008.
Baltimore has seen a relatively quiet May, with seven homicides compared with an average of about 20 per month over the past year. The two people whose deaths were added to the city's homicide figures succumbed to their wounds this year, and the medical examiner ruled recently that the cases were homicides.
Tavon Crawford was one of two people shot April 12, 2005, and he became a paraplegic as a result of his wounds, according to Officer Troy Harris, a police spokesman. The shooting occurred in the 2700 block of St. Lo Drive in the Northeast District.
Police at the time arrested a suspect, 22-year-old Chavis Barber, in South Carolina, and he pleaded guilty in 2007 to two counts of attempted second-degree murder and a handgun charge, receiving a 25-year prison sentence, according to court records.
In January of this year, Crawford, 26, was admitted to a local hospital for a cut to his foot, Harris said. He went into cardiac arrest a short time later and was pronounced dead. The medical examiner ruled this week that Crawford's death was a result of the shooting, and his death counts as a homicide on this year's total.
Barber will likely be charged with murder, Harris said.
The other new homicide victim was identified as Lee Johnson, 28. He was found Sept. 27, 2008, in the 1900 block of Frederick Ave., suffering from a gunshot wound to the back of the head and was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center, Harris said.
Johnson's condition since the shooting was not available. But on Thursday, he died at a local hospital as a result of the shooting.
The deaths put the city's homicide count at 83 for the year, compared with 78 at this time last year.
