First Degree

A Baltimore grand jury indicted Dontee D. Stokes yesterday on nine criminal counts in the shooting last month of the Rev. Maurice J. Blackwell, who was accused of fondling Stokes in 1993. "We do not condone vigilante justice," State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy said in announcing the indictment. She also made it clear that public anger swirling around the case because of the sexual abuse scandals in the Roman Catholic Church would not earn Stokes special treatment. "We indict people for crimes every day, even when there are mitigating factors, some of which are as horrendous as these," she said.

A 43-year-old man who police say was stabbed more than 20 times last month by his stepson during an argument over money died late last week from his injuries, according to police and court records. Police say George Stevenson was able to call for help, and responding officers found him bleeding profusely in the living room of his apartment in the 1400 block of Limit Ave., suffering from stab wounds to his arm, chest and back. Stevenson said he had been stabbed with an unknown object by his stepson, 16-year-old Galen Stevenson, who then fled on foot, police said.

ROCKVILLE - A jury convicted former Navy SEAL Benjamin Sifrit last night of second-degree murder in the slaying of an Ocean City tourist, but cleared him of charges in the death of her boyfriend, whose dismembered body was found in a Delaware landfill. After deliberating more than 13 hours over two days, the jury found Sifrit, 25, guilty of second-degree murder and first-degree assault in the slaying of insurance executive Martha Crutchley, 51, of Fairfax, Va. Jurors declined to return a finding of first-degree murder.

A Dundalk woman who admitted to arranging her husband's murder two years ago was sentenced Monday to 60 years in prison. Prosecutors say Jaclyn Martin gave her brother money to buy the gun with which he shot Lee Martin outside his Dundalk bar early on May 22, 2010. Jaclyn Martin and her brother, Robert Garner, both pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the scheme. Garner had previously been sentenced to 60 years in prison. Prosecutors say Jaclyn Martin called her husband at the Hops Inn on Railway Avenue just before he stepped out of the bar. They say Garner, with the help of two others, ambushed and shot Lee Martin as he was walking to his house next to the bar. Brandon Roth, who drove the getaway car, pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and was sentenced to 20 years with all but seven suspended.

A Baltimore City police officer accused of first-degree murder in the fatal shootings of his pregnant girlfriend and her 5-year-old daughter received additional charges and was formally indicted yesterday by a Harford County grand jury.Officer Michael Edward Thompson, 26, was indicted on two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault, one count of first-degree burglary and one count of carrying a weapon with an intent to injure.Thompson is accused of killing Vicky Lee Austin, 30, and her daughter, Jessica Elaine Morgan, in their rural Harford County home April 13.Thompson is being held without bail at the Harford County Detention Center and is suspended without pay from his job pending an administrative investigation.

A Baltimore jury has convicted a 41-year-old man of the 1998 rape and stabbing death of an 18-year-old woman. Ernest Rivers, of the 2800 block of Waldorf Avenue was found guilty of first-degree murder, first-degree rape and robbery with a deadly weapon, according to the state's attorney's office. Police arrested Rivers in 2006 after his DNA matched evidence from the stabbing of Jerrisha Burton. Her body was found in the back of a vehicle parked in the 700 block of Fillmore Street on January 28, 1998.

A man accused of shooting another man during an argument over discarded orange peels has been convicted by a Baltimore Circuit Court jury of attempted first-degree murder and a handgun violation, city prosecutors said in a statement yesterday. The jury, however, did not convict Herbert Wyche, 55, of first-degree murder in the death of William Staten, 60, prosecutors said. The state's attorney's office said in a statement that Staten was cleaning the sidewalk in front of his West Saratoga Street home April 21, 2004, when Wyche, his friend, dropped orange peels.

A 40-year-old Westminster man who admitted attacking his ex-wife with the claw end of a hammer in a New Year's Eve assault in 2002 was sentenced yesterday to 75 years in prison for attempted first-degree murder and 25 years for assaulting a neighbor who tried to stop the attack. Carroll County Circuit Court Judge Michael M. Galloway suspended 55 years of the 100-year sentence for Anthony Thomas Hughes. Prosecutors said Hughes would have to serve at least half the sentence before he can request parole.

A Baltimore circuit judge denied a motion yesterday to acquit accused killer Joseph R. Metheny of first-degree murder, but he held off on rulings that are keys to whether Metheny could get the death penalty.Judge Clifton J. Gordy said he will rule Tuesday afternoon on defense motions seeking acquittal on separate charges of attempted rape, attempted first-degree sex offense, robbery and murder while committing a felony.The judge's rulings are critical to the state's chances of getting the death penalty for Metheny, who is on trial in the stabbing death of 23-year-old Kimberly Spicer.

A man wanted in a fatal shooting in June was shot to death early Thursday in his Northeast Baltimore apartment, and police have charged his girlfriend with first-degree murder.Sgt. Frederick H. Bealefeld of the homicide squad said Troy "Tubby" Pressley, 25, of the 6800 block of Sturbridge Drive was shot at least once in the chest about 6: 30 a.m., allegedly during a domestic argument in a bedroom, and died a short time later at Sinai Hospital.Bealefeld said Pressley had been sought in a warrant charging him with first-degree murder in the death of Shawn Anderson, 28, who was shot June 28 in the 3300 block of W. Belvedere Ave. by a man with whom he had a dispute.

A Dundalk man's missing persons case, which police have investigated since September, has been ruled a homicide, and a grand jury has charged two Middle River residents with the killing. Jeffrey Jennings, 57, of the 8100 block of Gray Haven Road, was reported missing on Sept. 15, when Jennings' son called police and said he hadn't heard from his father in nearly a week, according to police. Detectives from Baltimore County's Missing Persons Unit launched a months-long investigation, police said, and intercepted communications between John Leschefsky, 27, of Middle River and others that led police to believe Jennings was the victim of murder.

Baltimore County police have charged a 54-year-old Randallstown man with first-degree murder, alleging he stabbed his girlfriend's son to death Sunday night with a "sword-type weapon. " James Thomas Haywood, 54, of the 3800 block of Pikeswood Drive in Randallstown, is accused of killing Andrew Maurice Fisher, 28, of the 7000 block of Windsor Mill Road in Lochearn. Court records show that Haywood was convicted in 1990 of attempted murder and in 2010 of misdemeanor theft. On Sunday, officers responded to the 3800 block of Pikeswood Drive for a report of a stabbing at around 10 p.m., said Baltimore County police spokeswoman Detective Cathy Batton.

Baltimore County police have charged Jeremiah Ezekiel Edwards, 19, of the 7400 block of Berkshire Road in Eastpoint, with first-degree murder and use of a handgun in a crime. Police say on Sept.16, Edwards shot Robert Charles Nelson, 24, of the 7900 block of Lansdale Road in Colgate. Officials responding to a call had found Nelson lying near the curb at Lange Street and Dalton Road. Nelson was taken to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center with he was pronounced dead. Police say Edwards is being held at the Baltimore County Detention Center and was denied bail.

In the days after his twin's disappearance, police say, Wael Ali led searchers to within feet of his brother's body, telling them he felt "something was wrong there. " Whether police suspect that Ali wanted his friends to find his dead brother or whether they think he was merely trying to cover his tracks is unknown, but the detail is one of several revealed in court documents that charge Ali with first-degree murder in the 2007 killing of his twin brother, Wasel. The documents were made public Friday after Ali was extradited from Georgia to stand trial in Howard County.

Baltimore County Police have charged an Overlea man in the killing of 19-year-old Bradley Adam Robinson in White Marsh last week. Police arrested Travis Brian Durant, of Dawalt Avenue, Tuesday and charged him with first-degree murder. On August 17, police responding to a call about shots fired found Robinson lying in the front yard of a townhouse near his home in White Marsh. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Detectives said that Robinson had gone to meet with Durant.

A 36-year-old man accused of pushing his girlfriend out of a moving vehicle on Interstate 95 last week was arrested Monday in Baltimore and charged with first-degree attempted murder, according to police. Detectives arrested Dante Williams, of no fixed address, without incident at a relative's home in the 1700 block of Winford Road, according to Maryland State Police spokesman Greg Shipley. Williams was also charged with first- and second-degree assault and violating the terms of probation on a previous assault charge against the same victim in Baltimore County, Shipley said.

A West Baltimore teen-ager has been convicted of the murders of two men, who were killed in December 1999 after an angry exchange of words led to deadly gunfire. Louis Pierre Easter, 16, of the 2000 block of Braddish Ave. was convicted Friday by a Circuit Court jury of first-degree murder, second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. Judge Kaye Allison set sentencing for June 16, Joyce Jefferson Daniels, a spokeswoman for the city state's attorney's office, said yesterday.

Howard County police arrested an Anne Arundel County teen-ager yesterday in the slaying of a Columbia man two weeks ago and are seeking a 28-year-old suspect, police said.Patrick Sean Gardner, 16, of Maryland City is charged in an arrest warrant with first-degree murder, first-degree assault and attempted murder in the death of Donald R. Mitchell, 43, police said.Sought on charges of first-degree murder, first-degree assault and illegal use of a handgun in commission of a felony is Dwayne West Williams, 28, of no fixed address.

A third brother in the Linares family has been arrested in connection with a double homicide in a Pikesville parking lot. Hector Linares, 23, was picked up Saturday and charged with first-degree murder in the May 29 killings of two men, which occurred after what police said was a dispute in a nearby restaurant. His two brothers, Fredy Linares, 27, of Pikesville, and Mario Linares, 35, of Woodlawn, were arrested May 31 and face the same charges. All three are being held without bail in the Baltimore County Detention Center.

A man who told police that he killed his landlord because he believed the homeowner was a warlock who was conjuring spells against him was found not criminally responsible Wednesday and will be placed in a state mental hospital. Neal Jesse Manning, 41, had descended rapidly into mental illness before he killed Harry Allan Wagner just past midnight on Jan. 4, according to a state psychiatric evaluation. Wagner, a 57-year-old cargo company dispatcher, was on his living room couch in his Pasadena home watching television when Manning, who had rented a room in his house for less than a year, shot him with a handgun and shotgun.