By Richard Irwin and Justin Fenton , richard.irwin@baltsun.com and justin.fenton@baltsun.com|July 08, 2009
The family of 5-year-old Raven Wyatt, who was struck in the head by a stray bullet last week, said in a brief interview that they believe the girl's condition has stabilized, and they are optimistic she will survive.
Though the family requested that hospital officials not release information about the girl's condition, Raven's mother, Danielle Brooks, met a reporter outside Johns Hopkins Hospital on Monday night to dispel rumors spreading through the community that the girl had died. She also said relatives hope that her condition will improve.
Police said Raven was critically wounded after 17-year-old Lamont Davis returned to a street fight with a weapon and began firing. Davis, who records show has been arrested 15 times as a juvenile and had cut off an electronic monitoring device, has been charged as an adult with two counts of attempted murder.
A source with knowledge of the girl's condition said she remains on a ventilator and that her condition has not changed.
The Baltimore Sun reported this week that Davis was being monitored in real time by a GPS ankle bracelet that he had removed before the shooting. Officials say Davis was initially ordered detained after being arrested on a robbery charge, but juvenile officials decided to release him June 19 on home monitoring. On July 1, a judge ordered that the monitoring continue.
Rick Abbruzzese, a spokesman for Gov. Martin O'Malley, said the governor had been briefed on Davis' case and has asked Donald W. DeVore, the secretary for the department of juvenile services, "for a full timeline leading up to this horrific act of violence." Abbruzzese said part of the inquiry includes whether the home monitoring was appropriate oversight.
Citing privacy laws, juvenile services spokeswoman Tammy Brown said she could not discuss Davis' history further.
The GPS monitoring system is the size of a large watch, Brown said, and has a separate box that stays in the juvenile's home. A contractor monitors the juvenile's movements and contacts the state if a violation occurs. Davis is believed to have removed the device July 2, the day of the shooting.
He is not the first to remove the monitoring device and get into trouble. In April, 16-year-old Dominic Baker removed one and ran away from home. He was later found shot to death in a vacant rowhouse in the Carrollton Ridge neighborhood, just blocks from where Raven was shot last week.
