Girlfriend

A Howard County jury convicted a Savage man yesterday of second-degree murder in the November stabbing of an acquaintance at the Copper Stallion Motel on U.S. 1 in Elkridge. Deliberating for 7 1/2 hours after a three-day trial, the jury determined that Adrian Maldonado, 23, known as "Dre," did not act in self-defense when he stabbed Marvin Walter Harding in his heart, thigh and hands as they quarreled over Harding's girlfriend, with whom both men were apparently involved. During opening arguments, prosecutor Stacy Mayer characterized the case as being "about the inequities of bringing a knife to an argument."

Baltimore police said yesterday that two recent deaths have been classified as homicides and that investigations into both incidents are continuing. In the most recent case, police found a wounded man inside an apartment in the 2100 block of Crimea Road in Southwest Baltimore on Oct. 13. The victim, Martay Powell, 22, had been shot in the head and died later that day at Sinai Hospital, police said. Detectives determined that Powell and his girlfriend had been arguing and then fought for control of a gun, which went off during a struggle, according to Officer Troy Harris, a police spokesman.

After speaking privately with homicide detectives investigating the death of the girlfriend of a man charged with dealing heroin, a judge ordered that the man be released to a Baltimore halfway house while awaiting trial on federal drug charges. But federal prosecutors immediately appealed the ruling, effectively blocking the release of Jermarl A. Jones before a U.S. district judge conducts another hearing next week. The decision came at the end of a detention hearing during which a deputy U.S. marshal detailed his nearly seven-month search for Jones and the ways he believed Jones and his girlfriend attempted to evade authorities hunting for him. Jones, 31, of Hyattsville was arrested last month on a year-old federal indictment that charged him with conspiring to sell heroin.

IT REALLY isn't nice to interrupt people when they're talking."The suggestion to my son was firm and loving. Instructions for life. The only problem was, this time it wasn't my suggestion."Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be impolite," he responded with a sheepish grin.Peering over the edge of my newspaper, I continued to observe the exchange between my son and his girlfriend."By the way, have you completed your applications to college yet? I really think you need to take care of this by the weekend or " She paused for effect.

A Finksburg man was arrested late Wednesday and charged with assault after he was accused of severely beating and pushing his girlfriend down the stairs at their home.Leonardo SanJuan Martinez, 42, was held on $50,000 bail after a District Court judge heard from Natasha Byus, an assistant state's attorney, that Kimberly Ann Tieszen, the alleged victim, was treated for bruises, scratches and a fractured and dislocated shoulder at Carroll County General Hospital. She was released.Byus also told Judge JoAnn Ellinghaus-Jones that the defendant had two assault charges in 1993 and 1994, possibly involving the same woman.

Describing him as a "cold-blooded, calculated murderer," a Baltimore County Circuit Court judge sentenced Edward E. McCorkle yesterday to life without the possibility of parole for killing a man who was to testify against McCorkle on charges of attempted murder."

A Westview man, upset over arguing with his girlfriend on his 24th birthday yesterday, fatally shot himself after holding off numerous police with gunfire, said a Baltimore County police spokeswoman. The man's name was not released.Cpl. Vickie Warehime said that when police arrived at the man's home in the 6000 block of Harford Ave. about 7: 30 p.m. after the girlfriend reported hearing a shot over the phone they were fired on and took cover. She said the county SWAT team moved in later with shields and escorted their colleagues to safety.

An attorney for an 18-year-old man charged with attempted murder in one of two shootings that stunned Harper's Choice last September said yesterday the state arrested the wrong man.In opening statements, the prosecution said Robert Joseph Manning fired a sawed-off shotgun and seriously wounded John Gordon Jackson, 38, just before 2 a.m. on Sept. 21 near Jackson's apartment on Harpers Farm Road. But defense attorney Richard Bernhardt named another man as the shooter.Jackson, a disabled Army veteran, was shot about 24 hours after a 17-year-old boy was robbed and shot in the abdomen a block and a half away -- a crime for which another defendant is scheduled to go on trial.

An attorney for an 18-year-old man charged with attempted murder in one of two shootings that stunned Harper's Choice in September said yesterday that the state arrested the wrong man.In opening statements, the prosecution said Robert Joseph Manning fired a sawed-off shotgun and seriously wounded John Gordon Jackson, 38, just before 2 a.m. Sept. 21 near Jackson's apartment on Harpers Farm Road. Defense attorney Richard Bernhardt said another man was the shooter.Jackson, a disabled Army veteran, was shot about 24 hours after a 17-year-old boy was robbed and shot in the abdomen a block and a half away.

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 Howard County judge sentenced a Baltimore man Thursday to 40 years in prison for a 2008 break-in and attack on his estranged girlfriend's mother and the mother's then-fiance at a Columbia townhouse. Judge Richard S. Bernhardt sentenced Gregory S. Imes Jr., 27, formerly of the 4900 block of Parkton Court, to two consecutive 20-year sentences. Imes was convicted in June of two counts of second-degree attempted murder, two counts of first-degree assault and burglary. Assistant State's Attorney Maurice Frazier asked Bernhardt to exceed the sentencing guidelines of 15 to 50 years in prison, saying that the guidelines "do not reflect the terror, the horror and the mayhem" of the attack.

A married Charles County man charged with trying to kill his pregnant girlfriend in a murder conspiracy was jailed Friday, after Anne Arundel County prosecutors told a judge that he had intimidated a witness who was also a girlfriend of his. Charles Brandon Martin, 32, told the other girlfriend to change her testimony to say that she had kept "a drill for him, not a gun," according to prosecutors' emergency request to jail Martin, filed Thursday....

Moments after completing the half marathon Saturday, Ethan Alden-Danforth dropped to one knee. Sure, he was pooped. But he really did it to propose. Having just dashed 13 miles through city streets with his girlfriend by his side, Alden-Danforth knelt before his running mate and asked for her hand. "I love you with all my heart," said the Johns Hopkins graduate student, still wearing his grimy togs. "Will you marry me?" Jennifer Albert nodded. Eyes glistening, she whispered, "Yes." He took her hand and placed a diamond ring on her finger.

An Annapolis man on Thursday received the maximum sentence, three years, for the killing of his girlfriend's puppy, which Anne Arundel County prosecutors said was part of a two-year pattern of domestic violence. The sentence was what prosecutors sought for what they called one of most gruesome attacks on a pet coupled with domestic abuse - a combination that experts say is common. Donte W. McCreary, 20, killed the 3-month-old terrier in front of his girlfriend because she cared more for it than for him, the prosecutor said.

A 19-year-old East Baltimore man was sentenced yesterday to 25 years in prison for executing his 14-year-old girlfriend, whom he had known for only a few weeks, by shooting her in her right temple at close range. During the emotional hearing, in which Charles Jakes pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and a gun charge, the victim's mother pounded her fists on a bench and screamed at the defendant: "Nothing you say will bring my child back. ... Read the Bible. You reap what you sow." Jakes apologized to Shaundretta Griffin's family but his face conveyed no emotion.

Elbert Gardner Jr. was in his basement apartment late Tuesday night when he heard his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend together in her bedroom. Gardner, who still shared the rental house with Lei Tyree Johnson on a quiet Annapolis street, grabbed his .38-caliber revolver from under a pillow and went upstairs, he told police. The 56-year-old Navy veteran shot Samuel Marshall Fowlkes Jr., 49, once in the head, then shot his 38-year-old former girlfriend once in the chest, charging documents say. On the way out of the bedroom, he ran into his ex-girlfriend's 12-year-old son, Anthony.

A 27-year-old man was found guilty Wednesday of second-degree attempted murder for stabbing an ex-girlfriend's mother and her fiance in their Columbia home last year. Gregory Imes Jr., who has no fixed address, had smashed a glass door and repeatedly stabbed the couple Sept. 27, 2008, after becoming distraught over the breakup of his relationship. He will be sentenced Oct. 8. Imes' sister testified against him, saying he wanted a confrontation with police so they would kill him. He deliberately returned to the neighborhood the day after the attacks, mixing with police and residents at another crime scene, but no one confronted him, Melinda Allen, Imes' sister, testified Wednesday in Howard County Circuit Court.

Series The New Adventures of Old Christine: : After an easily flustered mom (Kristen Johnston) calls Christine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) "a rock," Christine - who never met a compliment she didn't like - soon discovers being responsible is just exhausting. (8 p.m., WJZ-Channel 13) The Chopping Block: : Two teams of eight compete in culinary challenges for a chance to open their own restaurant. In the first competition, the teams create menus for host Marco Pierre White to judge by the end of the day, and then open their restaurants for service within 48 hours.

On the Web: * CollegeHumor.com, a popular comedy Web site devoted to the (cough) collegiate mind, has done it again. A series of viral videos on the site features a prank war between site front page editor Streeter Seidell and senior writer Amir Blumenfeld. In the last installment (in 2007), prankster Amir gave Streeter Yankee tickets for him and his girlfriend. Amir arranged it so the JumboTron had Streeter unknowingly proposing to his girlfriend (which subsequently added to the end of their relationship)

A man who was suffocated and found floating in the Patapsco River this week had been abducted and held for ransom and is believed to be connected to a violent drug gang whose feuding with rivals may have been responsible for at least five homicides last summer, according to law enforcement sources and court records. Authorities are monitoring the situation and exploring leads as it remains unclear whether the killing of Eric Pendergrass, 26, is an isolated incident or related to the spate of retaliatory violence associated with the April kidnapping of the teenage brothers Stephon and Sterling Blackwell.