Manslaughter

A Howard County woman has been charged with negligent manslaughter in an auto accident Nov. 12. Min Na Moon, 20, of the 13000 block of Julia Manor Way in West Friendship was indicted Wednesday and arrested hours later. Police say Moon was driving a Honda CRX on Route 32 near Nixon's Farm Lane in West Friendship about 6:45 a.m., crossed a double yellow line and collided head-on with a Chrysler PT Cruiser. Its driver, Gilbert L. Trowbridge II, 54, of Laurel was pronounced dead at the scene.

The commander of the Navy unit that included two sailors who drowned at Aberdeen Proving Ground in February has been relieved of his duties, the Navy said Wednesday. The Navy said Cmdr. Michael Runkle, who led the Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 2, was relieved because of a "loss of confidence in his ability to command. " Diver 1st Class James Reyher, 28, of Caldwell, Ohio, and Diver 2nd Class Ryan Harris, 23, of Gladstone, Mo., died Feb. 26 during a training exercise at a testing facility at Aberdeen known as the Super Pond.

The manslaughter and carjacking trial of Charles Johnson III, who's accused of killing three Baltimore teens in a car crash last year after blowing through a red light in a stolen vehicle, was postponed Friday until Oct. 3. Assistant Public Defender Jane E. McGough requested the delay so she could arrange for an independent evaluation of Johnson's mental health records. The 20-year-old has already been found competent to stand trial by state evaluators, but McGough said she wants an outside opinion.

Maryland State Police arrested Monday the Baltimore man they say struck and killed a pedestrian last week in front of City Hall and charged him with vehicular homicide, manslaughter and a slew of drug offenses. Police say Johnny Johnson, 43, had drugs in his system and was carrying cocaine and heroin last Tuesday when he struck veteran city employee Matthew Hersl on a downtown corner. Johnson initially was treated at a hospital and released as authorities investigated the crash, a move that drew criticism from some in the city.

Only James D. Laboard knows his intentions the night Baltimore County police said the off-duty officer chased a group of teens who had thrown a rock at his home. But as authorities considered charges in the ensuing death of Christopher Brown, they had to try to discern Laboard's intentions. Laboard was charged with two counts of manslaughter — one involuntary — in the asphyxiation death of the Randallstown High School teen; either count could carry a 10-year sentence. The victim's mother expressed outrage that the officer isn't facing more severe charges, alleging that the officer received preferential treatment and calling for an outside investigation.

A driver with a blood-alcohol level measured at twice the legal limit after his speeding car killed two pedestrians and struck another car on the shoulder of Interstate 70 was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in prison. Baltimore County Circuit Judge Patrick Cavanaugh, who presided over a bench trial, found Donneil Raeburn, 27, guilty in April of two counts of manslaughter. On Tuesday, Cavanaugh imposed the maximum sentence, 10 years for each victim, and ordered that the terms be served consecutively.

Carroll Circuit Judge Luke K. Burns Jr. sentenced a Montgomery County man yesterday to 10 years in state prison for automobile manslaughter.That was twice the amount of prison time prosecutors were seeking."

A city jury found a 38-year-old federal officer guilty of voluntary manslaughter in the April 2009 killing of his half-brother in a shooting the officer maintained was accidental. Prosecutors said Curtis Anthony Warren, an Iraq war veteran who worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs, deliberately shot Curtis Anthony Pounds during an argument in the basement of Warren's Northeast Baltimore property where Pounds rented a room. Another tenant, Damon Dorsey, testified at the trial that he and Pounds had ventured into the basement to investigate a blown fuse.

One man stabbed another in an argument over marijuana — hardly a unique motive for a killing in Baltimore. But this confrontation occurred on South Calvert Street in the heart of the city's tourist district, two blocks from the Inner Harbor. It happened shortly after 10 in the morning on a warm spring day in April 2007. It happened in a stairwell of a McDonald's restaurant. A tourist from New York followed the suspect and called the police, who quickly made an arrest.

A judge denied bail yesterday for a 38-year-old Severn man accused of repeated drug offenses and vehicular manslaughter. Kirk DeCosmo was charged after a Jan. 11 head-on crash on Furnace Branch Road in Glen Burnie that killed a 61-year-old man.

Upset that his mother would not pay off his debt to drug dealers, Genesis Collins Jr. set himself on fire and embraced her, leaving Audrey Collins with burns that ultimately killed her, prosecutors said. On Wednesday, a Baltimore jury convicted Collins, 42, of manslaughter and other charges in connection with the attack. He faces as much as 40 years in prison when he is sentenced in March. Jeremy Reed, Genesis Collins' nephew and Audrey Collins' grandson, said the family felt some relief that he had been convicted but that there was no real feeling of closure.

A 28-year-old Harford County woman accused of causing a fatal accident near Bel Air in July 2011 has pleaded guilty to a single count of manslaughter by motor vehicle, the county state's attorney said, and will serve a prison term of five years. Nicole Ashley Albers entered the guilty plea in Harford County Circuit Court on Aug. 27, according to a news release issued last week by Harford County State's Attorney Joseph Cassilly. Police and prosecutors said Albers was under the influence of drugs when the vehicle she was driving crossed a double yellow center line on Route 543 and collided with another vehicle on July 21, 2011, killing a Bel Air woman who was a passenger in the vehicle Albers hit. Under a plea bargain between her lawyer and the state, Albers will receive the maximum 10-year sentence, with all but five years suspended, Cassilly's news release said.

A Cockeysville woman was charged in her mother's January death after authorities found the 91-year-old woman on a toilet, where she had been left for two days. A Baltimore County grand jury on Aug. 15 indicted Sharon Caslow, 65, for manslaughter for leaving her mother in a bathroom in their home in the 1000 block of Hidden Moss Drive. Medics were called to the home Jan. 17, where they found Audrey Caslow seated on a toilet and determined that she had been there for two days, police said.

The trial for the Baltimore County police officer charged in the death of a Randallstown teenager has been scheduled to begin Dec. 11. Officer James D. Laboard, who has been charged with manslaughter in the death of 17-year-old Christopher Brown, appeared in Baltimore County Circuit Court on Tuesday to schedule the trial date. Wearing a light-green button-down shirt and tie, he sat quietly next to his attorney. Police said Laboard and Brown got into a physical confrontation June 13 in which Brown fell unconscious and the officer tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate him. Brown had been with a group of teens who threw rocks at the officer's front door when, police said, Laboard chased Brown to a nearby home.

Only James D. Laboard knows his intentions the night Baltimore County police said the off-duty officer chased a group of teens who had thrown a rock at his home. But as authorities considered charges in the ensuing death of Christopher Brown, they had to try to discern Laboard's intentions. Laboard was charged with two counts of manslaughter — one involuntary — in the asphyxiation death of the Randallstown High School teen; either count could carry a 10-year sentence. The victim's mother expressed outrage that the officer isn't facing more severe charges, alleging that the officer received preferential treatment and calling for an outside investigation.

A Baltimore County police officer was indicted Wednesday in the death of a Randallstown teen, but the charges drew criticism from the boy's mother and the community, who continued calls for an outside investigation. James D. Laboard, a nine-year veteran, faces charges of voluntary and involuntary manslaughter in the asphyxiation death of 17-year-old Christopher Brown, whom police said he chased after a group of teens threw a rock at his front door on June 13. Each count carries a maximum of 10 years in prison.

An Annapolis landscaper pleaded guilty yesterday to automobile manslaughter stemming from the Thanksgiving Day crash that killed his friend on a Crownsville road. Jose A. Munoz, 42, is to be sentenced July 17 in the death of Maximiliano Merlos, 34, also of Annapolis, on Nov. 28. "There [is] almost a 100 percent certainty that you will be deported from the United States," his attorney, Peter S. O'Neill, told him in court yesterday. Munoz is from El Salvador. Assistant State's Attorney Shelly Stickell said she will seek an 18-month jail term when Munoz is sentenced.

A 13-year-old girl whose body was found buried under trash bags behind a Northeast Baltimore rowhouse had been shot by her young companions while playing with a rifle, according to relatives and police who arrested two youths Monday. The boys, 12 and 13, were being held on juvenile charges of involuntary manslaughter, and police did not release their names. Baltimore police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi described the case as "an absolute unspeakable tragedy," while the relatives of Monae Turnage said the charges were not severe enough.

A 31-year-old man convicted by a jury of manslaughter in the fatal stabbing of a 17-year-old boxing standout last year was sentenced Thursday to the maximum of 10 years in prison. Terrance Sims said he never meant to harm Ronald Gibbs, a nationally-ranked boxer with Olympic aspirations. Sims had given a ride on March 6, 2011 to a woman dating Gibbs' sister, and both Sims and Gibbs got involved in a fight between the two women. Though Gibbs, known as "Rock," was skilled with his hands, he was no match for the knife wielded by Sims.  Circuit Court Judge John Addison Howard noted that Sims had been convicted of manslaughter for a shooting exactly 10 years to the day before that Gibbs was stabbed, and that in 2009 Howard had sentenced Sims to three years in prison for heroin distribution.  "There's no question that there are a lot of people in your family who have a great deal of faith in your character," Howard told Sims.