Homicide

The death of Phylicia Barnes, the missing teenager whose body was found last month in the Susquehanna River, has been formally ruled a homicide by the state medical examiner's office, officials said. Police also said a cause of death had been determined, but they were withholding the information for investigative purposes. "To release a cause of death at this time could jeopardize the investigation by revealing information known only to the person or persons responsible for her death," state police said in a statement.

Homicides in Baltimore last year paralleled 2008's two-decade low, while the city saw a sharp drop in nonfatal shootings. All told, about 130 fewer people were shot compared with 2008, even though four more were killed. Law enforcement officials say the decline in overall shootings is part of an encouraging trend that saw total gun crime drop by 16 percent, including aggravated assaults involving guns, street robberies and carjackings. More than 2,600 guns were taken off the streets by city police, with 1,100 people arrested on gun charges.

Police said two more victims wounded in earlier years have been added to this year's city homicide total. Police said Tavon Waters, 26, who was shot Oct. 18, 2006, while sitting in a truck parked in the 2800 block of Boarman Ave., died April 1 at a rehabilitation center as a result of his injuries. Records show a suspect was arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder, but the charges were dropped by prosecutors. Wayne Smith, 42, who was shot several times in November 1998 as he rode a bicycle in the 2200 block of E. Fayette St., also died this year as a result of his injuries, though police could not provide his date of death.

Anne Arundel County police were called to a Severn residence Tuesday for reports of a suicide but later determined the death a homicide. Officers were called the 100 block of Pine Cove Avenue for an attempted suicide and found Jerome Vorden Wood, 45, on the floor suffering from trauma to the upper torso. He was taken to Baltimore Washington Medical Center where he died. After interviewing several witnesses and collecting evidence, police determined the injury was not self-inflicted.

Today we're rolling out some improvements to our map of city homicides. The changes include: -- A larger map. Screens have changed size since we last updated the interface -- A new map color scheme that allows users to more easily locate homicides -- Addition of table-style listings, including the option of seeing the last hundred homicides -- Implementation of Google's street view feature All existing features remain on the...

For three years, the death of 25-year-old Dwayne Hawkins in a fire in East Baltimore has been listed as an accident. But this week, Hawkins' death was officially reclassified a homicide. Police say new information uncovered in March of this year sparked a new investigation that determined Hawkins was killed. Hawkins was found on June 13, 2008, in the rear of a home in the 600 block of Cokesbury Lane, in the East Baltimore Midway neighborhood, and was rushed to Johns Hopkins Bayview Hospital.

Baltimore County Police have charged an Owings Mills man in the death of a 37-year-old who was found shot earlier this month in his Pikesville home. Kelly Emanuel Shird, 27, of the 200 block of Cedarmere Road, was arrested in Virginia Thursday after the shooting of Craig Bouie, 37, on August 5, police said. Baltimore County Police are awaiting the results of an extradition hearing and then police will formally charge Shird with first-degree murder. Officers were called for a burglary in progress Bouie's home in the 100 block of Western Winds Circle at 2:13 a.m. at where he was found suffering from a gunshot wound.

Baltimore finally gets ranked, but not in a good way. Ranked fifth the list of places with the most homicides, Baltimore's homicide rate grew 37.3 killings per 100,000 people in 2009. As of Monday, 71 homicides have been reported. So many people don't think before they act, and people die or get hurt for no reason. Baltimore is a much better place than these lists portray. Maybe next year we can get off this list, and get on a much better one! Tara Brandt, Essex

The decision of the state medical examiner to rule the overdose death of a 24-year-old heroin addict as a homicide has rekindled questions about whether city and state officials are routinely under-reporting Baltimore's number of annual murders. Homicide statistics are generally considered to be a reliable measure of crime simply because they leave so little room for interpretation, but as the case of Amber Brown illustrates, there is still judgment involved. Circuit Court Clerk Frank Conaway and others have long argued that many of the city's overdose deaths should be considered homicides if we are to get a true picture of Baltimore's problems.

Despite failing to make NBC's fall schedule, Barry Levinson' "Homicide" has not breathed its last breath yet.A deal has been struck for four more episodes of "Homicide" to be made this summer in Baltimore and used as possible mid-season replacements by NBC starting in March, according to Tom Fontana, co-executive producer of the series.A full order is 22 episodes. Since the backup order is so small, Fontana is not certain whether all the original cast members will be available. But the cast and crew is expected to return to Baltimore in late July or early August, a spokeswoman for the show said yesterday.