Murder

In the 1960s when I was a beat reporter for a daily newspaper in Virginia and later taught journalism, many would snicker, "if it bleeds, it leads. " Yet bleeding leads sold papers, and 40 years ago, even decent publications sometimes indulged. However, it is astonishing to see in 2012 The Sun for over a solid week headline front page over and over a Morgan State University student's alleged murder and cannibalism of a friend. While gory details are hashed over continuously and delicious new ones slipped in, very few new or for that matter, explanatory, aspects are introduced.

Police charged two men Thursday with first-degree murder in the death of a man who was shot in Annapolis. Howard Durley, 30, of Anne Arundel County, was found shot to death in the 1900 block of Copeland Street about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday. The suspects are William Chase, 19, of Capitol Heights and Charles Spriggs, 25, of Annapolis. Police say they found witnesses to the shooting who led them to the suspects. The shooting was not random, police said, and instead "apparently involves a relationship the victim had with a female.

Baltimore police are asking for the public's help in identifying a man they say fatally shot another man in the city's Reservoir Hill neighborhood on July 5. Police say the suspect, of whom they released a composite sketch Thursday, is a black man likely between the ages of 18 and 22. He is about 5 feet 8 inches tall and 140 pounds, with a thin build, police said. Police say he fatally shot Lance Johnson, 40, about 1:25 a.m. in the 2300 block of North Eutaw Place. Police identified Johnson as being transgender, but said there was no indication that the shooting was a hate crime.

As completely disheartened and enraged as many of us still are over the senseless, tragic, brutal murder of Stephen Pitcairn last year, this week's article about Lavelva Merritt's trial ("Woman who helped rob Hopkins' Pitcairn sentenced to 15 years," Nov. 8) opens the floodgates for an equally strong reaction. Ms. Merritt is quoted as having said, "I punched him in the head and took his phone. " She described herself as, "just as guilty as John," referring to the now convicted murderer, John Wagner, Ms. Merritt's boyfriend.

Three members of the Black Guerilla Family gang were sentenced to life in prison Wednesday for the 2009 robbery, kidnapping and murder of Qonta Waddell, a convicted drug dealer who was hogtied and removed, screaming, from his mother's home in Southwest Baltimore as she watched. Peter "Petey" Miller, Derrell "Snags" Johnson and William "Jim Dog" Rhodes were each convicted of conspiracy, murder, kidnapping, robbery and weapons crimes. Miller, 20, was sentenced to life plus 60 years.

A 19-year-old woman from Joppatowne has been charged with murder in connection with the death last week of her 9-month-old daughter, who police say was repeatedly injected with insulin. Quecelia Yvette Baldeo, 19, aka Qucelia Baldeo, of the 900 block of Scannell Court, is charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, first-degree child abuse resulting in death and first-degree assault in the death of Selena Olivia Weber, according to Maryland electronic court records. According to the Harford County Sheriff's Office, Baldeo was served with an arrest warrant upon her release from Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air late Friday afternoon.

Your article "Man slain downtown; 3 hurt in Westport," May 12) noted the killing "broke a streak of nearly 12 days without a homicide in Baltimore, one of the longest stretches in years. " I don't know whether to snicker or cry regarding that tidbit. Should we be proud that the city went almost two weeks without a murder? Have we become so inured to homicide that we come to expect it almost on a daily basis? The way I interpreted it, your paper was almost boastful in stating the city was murder-free for 12 consecutive days.

I was surprised and delighted to open The Sun and read an inspiring commentary on the op-ed page ("Abortion ethics not so simple," Aug. 28). Christopher Dreisbach has finally given this topic the objective, honest look it so rightly deserves. This kind of material not only credits him, but The Sun by association. The core of the piece asks us to step back and ask what makes us human and what constitutes life. These are the questions that drive those of us who are pro-life, not a wish to control others.

Baltimore County police have arrested a 23-year-old Parkville man charged with attempted murder and assault in connection with a triple stabbing early Sunday at a nightclub in White Marsh. Deandre Anthony Mims of the 6800 block of Sturbridge Drive is being held without bail at the Baltimore County Detention Center. Officers were called at 1:29 a.m. for a disturbance reported at the Sunset Beach Club in the 11400 block of Pulaski Highway. Three men, one 34 years old and the other two 25, were stabbed during an altercation that began inside the club and spilled out onto the parking lot, police said.

Police have identified a suspect in the Thursday stabbing murder of a Baltimore woman who was found dead in her home. Police are searching for Michael Wesley in connection with the homicide, which they have called "domestic-related. " Online court records show Wesley has previously been charged with assault but not convicted. A lawyer who represented him in one of those cases did not immediately respond to requests for comment. On Thursday, police found Rachel Curtis, 31, unresponsive with multiple stab wounds in her Lakeland neighborhood home in the 2600 block of Wegworth Lane.