Essex Man

Thirteen months ago, James Neil Rivers Jr. was fatally shot while confronting burglars outside his Essex home. Yesterday, his mother stood several feet from the man convicted of killing her son and told a judge that every day since then has been a struggle. "We relive this night every day," Kim Rivers said in Baltimore County Circuit Court. "My husband comes home from work with his eyes reddened from crying at the cemetery." Minutes later, a Baltimore County judge sentenced Deandre Lamont Williams, 18, of Northeast Baltimore to 50 years in prison for the crime.

A 36-year-old convicted sex offender was sentenced yesterday to life in prison without parole for stabbing, strangling and beating to death his 13-year-old stepdaughter before setting her body and their family's Essex rowhouse on fire to cover up the killing. Carl Preston Evans Jr., whose arrest in August 2005 highlighted problems with the state's sex offender registry, also received two consecutive 15-year prison terms, one for the attempted murder of his infant daughter and one for arson.

A 20-year-old Essex man died yesterday after being shot outside his home when he confronted two men who were walking on his property, police said. James Neil Rivers Jr., a former three-sport athlete at Kenwood High School, was shot about 7:45 p.m. Thursday in his driveway in the 700 block of Cedar Road, Baltimore County police said. As dozens of friends and family members gathered in the hospital waiting room, Rivers died yesterday morning at Maryland Shock Trauma Center, his family said.

NATIONAL Alito hearings draw to a close Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. sparred for the last time with Senate Democrats, emerging from four days of sometimes fierce, sometimes lackluster confirmation hearings with few political wounds. pg 1a WORLD Saudi pilgrimage turns deadly At least 345 worshippers were killed in a stampede at one of Islam's holiest sites yesterday, tainting the annual hajj pilgrimage to the Muslim religion's birthplace in Saudi Arabia. pg 8a MARYLAND Ehrlich veto overridden The state General Assembly overrode Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s veto of legislation requiring Wal-Mart to pay more for employee health care.

Frank Micriotti boarded a plane in May for the first time since 1976. It was a small commuter plane, with rows of three seats divided by a narrow aisle. "I said to myself, `Man, this is crazy,'" he said, recalling his nervousness about traveling on the aircraft. "And I'm by myself, and no one is next to me to give me reassurance." If Micriotti needed peace of mind, he could remember the reason for his flight, a cause inspired by the death of a stranger five years ago. As part of his effort to secure breaks on property tax for the spouses of fallen police officers and firefighters across the nation, Micriotti embarked on a 20-day, cross-country trip to thank the lawmakers who took up the effort and to encourage them to see it through.

An Essex man was placed on probation this week for harassing his former supervisor by signing her up for e-mail subscriptions, flooding her inbox with unwanted messages from dating services and job lines, the state attorney general's office said yesterday. Scott C. Huffines, 41, a former Web designer at Maryland Public Television, admitted signing his supervisor's e-mail address on Internet sites to annoy the woman with the resulting e-mails, according to the attorney general's office.

A 31-year-old man died Saturday evening at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, shortly after the motorcycle he was operating collided with a car on Eastern Boulevard, a short distance from his Essex home, Baltimore County police said. Michael Lee Blackmon of the 7000 block of Eastern Ave. was riding a 1998 Harley-Davidson west in the 7700 block of Eastern Ave. about 6 p.m. when he crashed into the passenger side of a 2002 Chrysler PT Cruiser whose driver was turning left onto 54th Street, police said.

A 19-year-old man has been charged with first-degree murder after a shooting Saturday night in Essex, Baltimore County police said. Daquan Tasheem Corner of the first block of Reaching Circle in Essex was being held without bail yesterday in the fatal shooting of Issiah Davis, 23, of the 1000 block of Foxwood Lane in Essex, police said. Davis was shot several times in the upper body just after midnight Saturday behind a house on Rumelia Circle in Essex, police said. He was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, where he was pronounced dead.

Baltimore County police said yesterday that they charged a 39-year-old Essex man with murder in the fatal beating of a homeless man after the victim insulted the suspect's girlfriend. James Edward Johnson of the 1600 block of Dartford Road was being held without bail at the Baltimore County Detention Center, said police Sgt. Edward Forbes. The arrest, which happened over the weekend but was announced yesterday, was made in the beating death Friday night of Keith Albert Lusby, a homeless man, police said.

An 18-year-old Essex man is facing more than a dozen charges after being arrested in connection with an apparent road-rage incident Thursday night on the Baltimore Beltway, authorities said yesterday. David K. Emerson, of the 900 block of Arncliffe Road, was driving a 1996 Chevrolet Blazer about 10:30 p.m. near his home when he and his passenger became involved in a shouting match with the driver and four passengers in a 2000 Jeep Cherokee, Maryland State Police said. The Blazer followed the Jeep onto the outer loop of the Beltway near Route 702, and shots were fired from the Blazer at the Jeep, police said.