A man identified in court documents as a gang leader who had fallen out of favor with the organization has been charged by Baltimore police with a September killing after being picked up last week by federal authorities.
Frank Williams, 25, also known as Lee Kelly, was one of more than 30 people rounded up last week as part of a racketeering indictment targeting the Maryland and California leadership of the Pasadena Denver Lanes unit of the Bloods gang.
Authorities say the gang is responsible for a host of violent incidents, and Baltimore police announced Tuesday that they have placed a detainer on Williams linking him to the fatal shooting of Tyrone Bowie, 26, on Sept. 3, 2008.
Federal court papers indicate that Bloods leadership in California had become dissatisfied with Williams and ordered other members to harm him. In turn, he plotted revenge against a Maryland leader of the gang, records show.
In February, law enforcement officials listening on a wiretap heard Emiliano Aguas, characterized by authorities as the Baltimore leader of the PDL Bloods, discussing his plan to demote Williams and assume control of those under his command.
On April 29, James McCuin of the California PDL ordered Williams to "physically discipline" another member, according to court records. That day, records show, McCuin got onto a speaker phone and told gang members to beat Williams for taking too long to carry out his orders. Federal prosecutors say Williams was attacked that day.
Authorities say they later listened as Williams recruited an unknown male to retaliate against Aguas. Williams instructed the man not to shoot through the door but to "get up close and personal."
Baltimore police say Williams was one of two men who fatally shot Bowie as he stood outside a liquor store in the 2100 block of Ashland Ave. in East Baltimore. Bowie was shot in the back of the head and died at an area hospital the next day.
In a separate case, Williams was charged as Lee Kelly in 2007 with first-degree murder, and a jury found him not guilty on all charges in March 2008. He received probation before judgment on two separate drug distribution cases in 2004, according to court records.
