Detention Center

Two Carroll County men have been arrested and charged with rape and assault in a Sunday morning attack on a 16-year-old Taneytown girl, according to court documents. Fidel Melo, 20, originally from the Bronx, N.Y. and who has been living in the Westminster area for a year, and Nicholas W. Queen, 18, of New Windsor, were arrested this week. Each faces 10 charges, including first-and second-degree rape, first-and second-degree sex offense, second-degree assault and conspiracy charges, court documents show.

A Columbia woman whose conviction in the 2005 strangulation of a fellow Loyola College doctoral student was overturned in September agreed to a plea deal yesterday in Howard County Circuit Court that freed her from prison. The state Court of Special Appeals had ruled that Melissa Burch Harton, 27, was entitled to a new trial after being convicted of involuntary manslaughter because Howard County detectives waited until she made incriminating statements to advise her of her Miranda rights.

Harford County Detention Center inmate Terrence Kasses Washington went into the back seat of a Crown Victoria with arms and legs bound in chains. He came out of the car running. He has been arrested again and again on charges that include bank robbery and car theft, and his slippery ways - he's confounded jailers in Louisiana, Arkansas and Maryland - have made him something of a regular on America's Most Wanted. More than a week after his latest escape, Terrence Washington has left a trail of stolen trucks from Bel Air to Alabama.

Former Howard County teacher Kirsten Ann Kinley told the judge at her sentencing hearing yesterday that she was sorry she had a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old boy at her Columbia apartment more than two years ago. "I want to apologize for the pain anybody had to suffer because of these actions," said a soft-spoken Kinley, who cried throughout the hour-long hearing. "I want the opportunity to become a productive citizen." Howard County Circuit Court Judge Diane O. Leasure sentenced Kinley, 27, to three years in prison, with 18 months suspended, which means she is to serve 18 months at the county detention center.

Maryland and the U.S. Department of Justice have reached a settlement agreement to improve conditions at the troubled Baltimore City Juvenile Justice Center, the state's juvenile services secretary said yesterday. Secretary Donald W. DeVore said that the one-year pact, signed by Gov. Martin O'Malley last week, helps the state avoid a federal lawsuit. The U.S. Department of Justice sharply criticized the center's management and staffing in a recent review. "This avoids any litigation and is a good-faith commitment on the part of the state and on the part of DOJ that, with the right leadership, we can get these things done," DeVore said in a phone interview.

ISSUE: Construction of a new Oak Hill Youth Center will proceed on 40 acres near the existing center in Laurel, as planned, according to a "satisfactory division of agreement" hashed out last week by officials in Maryland and the District of Columbia. Though Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin has long fought to relocate the detention center into the district, the Maryland Democrat characterized last week's agreement as a partial victory because Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty is willing to cooperate with federal and state officials on the disposition of the remaining 848 acres of the property.

A 27-year-old man was fatally stabbed yesterday at the Baltimore City Detention Center, a Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services spokesman said. The man was attacked in a walkway area at 12:15 p.m. and taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he died, said spokesman Mark Vernarelli. Officials were not releasing the victim's name until they notified his relatives. The Baltimore resident was in custody while awaiting trial on drug distribution charges, Vernarelli said.

A 15-year-old boy pleaded guilty to second-degree murder yesterday in last year's killing of a cabdriver in Northeast Baltimore. Damon Holmes of the 6600 block of Old Harford Road also pleaded guilty to use of a handgun in a crime of violence and robbery with a deadly weapon, according to the Baltimore state's attorney's office. Prosecutors said Holmes shot and killed 28-year-old Oumar Bah on May 31 last year in the 7100 block of McClean Blvd. Bah had picked up Holmes on Northern Parkway and was dropping him off when the shooting occurred.

Four more years to improve conditions at the Baltimore City Detention Center, a jail that has been on the federal government's watch list since 2000? That's not a gift to the outgoing Ehrlich administration. It's consistent with how long it will likely take for the state to rebuild infrastructure at a facility that in part dates to the 19th century. And it keeps the state under the eye of federal officials for that much longer. Until then, mandatory inspections - as well as an unrelated lawsuit filed on behalf of inmates - should keep the state moving forward.

A city grand jury that regularly inspects jails will be asked to review a human rights group's report that sharply criticized conditions for youths confined in Baltimore City Detention Center.Baltimore State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy said she will recommend that the report by New York-based Human Rights Watch be reviewed by a new city grand jury to be impaneled in January.She disclosed those plans in a Nov. 16 letter to Jonathan M. Smith, executive director of Public Justice Center, a Baltimore advocacy group that provides legal services to the poor.

State police have made a third arrest in the carjacking of a Harford County woman this week. Lamont Harrison Jr., 19, was arrested Wednesday near his home on Melwood Court in Edgewood and charged with carjacking, armed robbery, assault, kidnapping and theft. His $1 million bond was revoked Thursday, and he remains in the Harford County Detention Center. Joshua Prince Freeman, 19, of Edgewood and Roberta Antonaccio, 17, of Joppa face the same felony charges in connection with the incident, which began late Monday in Edgewood.

Prison officials are investigating the fatal stabbing of a 28-year-old man Wednesday night at the Baltimore City Detention Center. Kennard Pratt was stabbed several times while leaving a shower to return to his cell about 7 p.m., authorities said. Detention center and medical staff performed CPR and took him to Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he was pronounced dead. Pratt had been jailed since February, awaiting trial on murder charges. Officials said no motive or suspect had been identified.

It's been a busy summer at the Guantanamo Bay detention center. The joint task force in charge of the 226 remaining detainees is spending about $440,000 to expand the recreation yards at Camp 6. At nearby Camp 4, which offers communal living for the most "compliant" captives, the soccer yard is being enlarged. At Camp 5, a maximum-security facility, a $73,000 classroom is under construction. In March, the task force added art classes to the thrice-weekly instruction it offers in Arabic, Pashtu and English, courtesy of the U.S. taxpayer.

Downtown Baltimore's campus of ancient-looking prison buildings, several of which date to the 1800s, is slated for a major face-lift as the state moves forward with plans for two new detention centers that would cost more than $100 million each. A state architectural board is scheduled to review today the design for a five-story, 180-bed detention center for teens facing adult criminal charges. Construction of the glassy, modern building along East Monument Street could begin next summer.

Howard County police have charged four people from Florida in a widespread scheme that authorities said involved stealing credit-card information, financial records and personal information from as many as 100 victims in four states. On Aug. 10, police were called to the Best Western hotel in the 6700 block of Dorsey Road in Elkridge after a housekeeper found suspicious documents in a room's trash can. When police tried to stop one of the room's occupants as she drove near the hotel, she sped away and later collided with three Howard County police cars.

The 40,000 men and women held in Baltimore jails each year could receive speedier access to medical care and see improved sanitation conditions under a settlement between state officials and prisoner rights advocates filed Tuesday in federal court. Over the years, the advocates have documented what they say are dire problems at the Baltimore City Detention Center and the Central Booking and Intake Center: A longtime diabetic died after not receiving insulin. An asthmatic died because jail employees thought he was faking his condition and didn't give him an inhaler.

The search for a 20-year-old prisoner who escaped after attacking a deputy is being conducted on two fronts: a joint law enforcement task force and the man's mother, according to authorities. Howard County police and sheriff's deputies are searching for Devin Champagne, a Jessup man who escaped late Thursday while being transported. Champagne's concerned mother is trying to help them find him. "The mother has been extremely cooperative," Sheriff's Department spokesman Mark Verderaime said Monday.

Middle River man's death investigated as accidental drowning 2 Baltimore County police are investigating the death of a 53-year-old Middle River man who fell off a pier at an Essex marina Friday night as an accidental drowning, according to a department spokesman. Police Sgt. Bruce Aris said Wayne Joseph Hava of the 5700 block of Hilltop Road fell into Hopkins Creek about 10:30 p.m. after stepping off a 27-foot Bayliner as the boat pulled into River Watch Marina, near a restaurant of the same name in the 200 block of Nanticoke Road.

President-elect Barack Obama had hoped an economic stimulus package would be the first piece of legislation he would sign upon moving into the Oval Office. But endorsing a resolution to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay more than qualifies as a significant first for the incoming 44th president. The symbolism of that action will reverberate across oceans and in foreign capitals, where America's image and reputation as a nation of laws have suffered egregious harm from the continued existence of this unjust prison.

A state corrections officer has been placed on leave after a group of inmates gained access to a segregation cell at the Baltimore City Detention Center, an incident that led to the stabbing of two inmates, according to officials and an attorney for one victim. Officials disclosed yesterday that two inmates were stabbed about 1 a.m. Oct. 28 during an altercation at the Eager Street facility and suffered injuries that were not considered life-threatening. The incident occurred in the administrative segregation unit of the detention center and allegedly involved several other inmates.