Bystander

William M. Griffin, 22, of Essex, was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison for his role in a drug deal in January that resulted in the shooting death of a bystander. Two weeks ago, another man accused in the case, Donald S. Kohler, 29, of Joppatowne, was sentenced to a 35-year prison term after being found guilty of second-degree murder and possession with intent to distribute marijuana. A third man, Warren J. Yates, 27, of Dundalk, is to be sentenced Dec. 7 on five counts, including second-degree murder and using a handgun in a violent crime.

Two women jumped from the second floor of a burning rowhouse Monday morning, and one may have thrown an infant out of a window and into the arms of a bystander, according to the Baltimore Fire Department. The fire was reported shortly before 6 a.m. in the 300 block of S. Fulton Ave., in the Carrollton Ridge neighborhood in Southwest Baltimore. Fire Capt. Roman Clark said the first and second floors were engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived. Clark said two women jumped from a second floor.

A man was killed and a woman critically wounded last night when a man fired several shots from a handgun at the corner of Edmondson Avenue and N. Payson Street, police said.The shooting is believed to be drug-related, police said.Pronounced dead in front of 625 N. Payson St. from gunshot wounds to the back and chest was a man who carried no identification.The woman, who appeared to be an innocent bystander, was taken to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center and is listed in critical condition from multiple gunshot wounds.

The man charged in connection with last month's fatal shooting of a 19-year-old woman in Better Waverly is in jail and being held without bail in connection with a January armed robbery, according to court records. James Cureton, 21, of the 5200 block of Anthony Lane, now faces first-degree murder and other charges in the death of Tanise Ervin. Authorities had described her as an innocent bystander who had just graduated from high school and was planning to attend college to study nursing.

Baltimore police have charged a 21-year-old man with first-degree murder in last month's shooting of a 19-year-old woman who authorities described as an innocent bystander who had just graduated high school and was planning to attend college to study nursing. Tanise Ervin was one of three people shot March 12 outside a carryout in the 900 block of Gorsuch Ave. in Better Waverly, steps away from where she lived with her mother in Serenity House, part of a women's shelter run by the Sisters of Mercy and Sisters of Notre Dame.

City police say the 19-year-old woman who was killed in a triple shooting outside a Better Waverly deli Saturday night was an innocent bystander, and the men who survived the incident are not cooperating with investigators. Tanise Ervin graduated recently from W.E.B. Du Bois High School and was an employee at a fast-food restaurant, family and friends said. She hoped to attend Coppin State University in the fall to study nursing. She lived with her mother at Serenity Place, an apartment building on Gorsuch Avenue.

An auto theft suspect and a bystander were shot by city police in West Baltimore last night as police chased the suspect, armed with a .22-caliber handgun, through a residential neighborhood, according to police spokesman Robert W. Weinhold Jr.Both the suspect and the bystander were taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center last night. The suspect was in critical condition with wounds in the back and abdominal area and the bystander had leg wounds that were not life threatening, Weinhold said.

Two males and a bystander were shot last night when an argument broke out between two groups of males who were throwing eggs at a Southwest Baltimore bar, police said.Detective Robert Duhony said the groups were throwing eggs against the front of Rosie's Bar in the 400 block of S. Bentalou St. about 6: 20 p.m. when the argument broke out.A man in one of the groups pulled a semiautomatic handgun and started firing.A boy, 14, was shot in the left leg; Michael Paskel, 24, of the 1900 block of Breitwert Ave. was shot in the stomach; and Patrick Healley, 52, a bystander, of the 2500 block of Ashton St. was shot in the right wrist, Duhony said.

The family of a Southwest Baltimore man, an innocent bystander who was fatally shot by police in December, has filed a $1 million lawsuit against the three officers involved.Doris James, the mother of Melvin James, 18, who was shot and killed Dec. 5 during a gunbattle between the police officers and an escaped murderer in the 1900 block of Hollins St., filed the wrongful death lawsuit Monday in Baltimore City Circuit Court. She was joined as plaintiff in the suit by Tracey Day, the mother of Chardanae Desiree James, Mr. James' daughter.

PHILADELPHIA -- The punch caught the drummer squarely, breaking his nose with a crack. Bouncers at Gilhooley's Tavern jumped into the fray. They shoved the three patrons who fought with the band that night onto the sidewalk.Ron Hunter, a regular at the Philadelphia taproom, sat with his back to the brawl. "None of my business," thought the 39-year-old grocery clerk as he drained his glass. "Doesn't involve me."An hour later, Hunter was fully involved -- a slug from a .380-caliber handgun lodged in the lower right portion of his skull.

The family of a transgender woman who was attacked in a Baltimore County McDonald's last week thanked the woman who stepped in and tried to help, as more than a hundred supporters gathered at the Rosedale restaurant Monday night. The rally drew together representatives of transgender, civil-rights and faith-based communities in a call to action to stop violence against all people. "I'll never forget you for this," Renee Polis told Vicky Thoms, who was hit in the face as she stepped between Chrissy Polis and the two teens who were caught on video punching and kicking Polis, and dragging her by her hair until Polis appears to have a seizure.

She was "sassy and funky," a 19-year-old with a high school diploma in hand and a nursing degree in her sights. But in a moment, Tanise Ervin's dreams were cut short Saturday when a gunman opened fire in her North Baltimore block. More than 100 mourners gathered on the steps of a Better Waverly church Tuesday night to remember Ervin and plead with the community to help police find her killer. Among those in attendance were the commanders of the Northern police district and the lead homicide detective on the case.

City police say the 19-year-old woman who was killed in a triple shooting outside a Better Waverly deli Saturday night was an innocent bystander, and the men who survived the incident are not cooperating with investigators. Tanise Ervin graduated recently from W.E.B. Du Bois High School and was an employee at a fast-food restaurant, family and friends said. She hoped to attend Coppin State University in the fall to study nursing. She lived with her mother at Serenity Place, an apartment building on Gorsuch Avenue.

It was midafternoon, and Shayna Samero was on her way home from work Nov. 17, 2008, idling in traffic on North Avenue near the Eastside District Courthouse in Baltimore, when she saw what looked like a couple of teenagers messing around on the street, one chasing the other. Within seconds, she realized it was a woman under attack. "She was trying to get away, she was trying to run away," Samero testified Wednesday during an emotional morning in the trial of Cleaven L. Williams Jr., who is charged with murder in the fatal stabbing of his wife, Veronica Williams.

A lawyer hired by one of the women wounded during a police shooting that left an officer and another man dead said his client was struck in the head, disputing accounts from authorities that the three surviving victims were struck only in their extremities. The woman, Jasmine Graves, 22, was not seriously injured, said attorney Michael A. Pulver. He said the bullet did not penetrate her skull, indicating that it may have been a graze wound. Still, the discrepancy adds further confusion to a complicated case still being sorted out by homicide detectives.

WASHINGTON — A man was critically injured Friday evening when he was struck by a Metro train. Washington Fire and EMS spokesman Pete Piringer said the incident happened shortly after 8 p.m. Friday at the Metro Center station. Rescue crews found both the victim and a bystander trying to help him under the train. The victim, whose name was not immediately released, was taken to a local trauma center with critical injuries. The victim was talking with emergency crews.

WASHINGTON — A man was critically injured Friday evening when he was struck by a Metro train. Washington Fire and EMS spokesman Pete Piringer said the incident happened shortly after 8 p.m. Friday at the Metro Center station. Rescue crews found both the victim and a bystander trying to help him under the train. The victim, whose name was not immediately released, was taken to a local trauma center with critical injuries. The victim was talking with emergency crews.