Second Degree Murder

UPDATE: A Baltimore jury has found Michael Maurice Johnson guilty of second-degree murder in the killing Phylicia Barnes, a North Carolina teenager whose body was found in the Susquehanna River in 2011, months after a mysterious disappearance that drew national attention.   Lawyers on both sides   had acknowledged in closing arguments  that the evidence against Johnson was circumstantial. But while defense attorneys described flaws and inconsistencies, prosecutors said the facts pointed to Johnson as the only reasonable suspect.

Robert Jarrett Jr. was convicted Tuesday of murdering his wife, following a trial in which prosecutors described him as a "cold-blooded killer" who allowed his sons to walk over her body buried beneath their backyard shed for two decades. Howard County jurors handed down a guilty verdict on one count of second-degree murder after deliberating into the night, bringing an end to a years-long investigation. Prosecutors, who had pushed for a first-degree murder conviction, said they would seek the maximum penalty of 30 years in prison at Jarrett's sentencing, scheduled in August.

The 19-year-old man charged with fatally stabbing Dennis Lane allegedly told investigators that his girlfriend had instructed him to kill her father and his fiancee, specifying the number of times each was to be stabbed in the throat - 10 for him and 15 for her. Jason Anthony Bulmer charging documents In a conversation at school hours before the Ellicott City blogger and businessman was killed, Jason Anthony Bulmer said, 14-year-old Morgan...

A Baltimore City Circuit Court jury on Thursday convicted a 22-year-old man of second-degree murder in a shooting in Southwest Baltimore that killed a bystander and left two others injured in 2010. Harry Davis, 22, faces a maximum sentence of 108 years. He was also convicted of two counts of second-degree assault and two weapons violations, the Baltimore City State's Attorney's office said. Sentencing is scheduled for July 2. Prosecutors said Davis approached four men on the 500 block of Eastlynn Ave. on Sept.

A Baltimore City Circuit Court jury on Thursday convicted a 22-year-old man of second-degree murder in a shooting in Southwest Baltimore that killed a bystander and left two others injured in 2010. Harry Davis, 22, faces a maximum sentence of 108 years. He was also convicted of two counts of second-degree assault and two weapons violations, the Baltimore City State's Attorney's office said. Sentencing is scheduled for July 2. Prosecutors said Davis approached four men on the 500 block of Eastlynn Ave. on Sept.

The Maryland Court of Special Appeals upheld a Baltimore County man's conviction in the death of his wife who went missing the night she was supposed to go to a Motley Crue concert in Washington and whose body was never found. Dennis J. Tetso, 47, who was found guilty of second-degree murder in the presumed death of Tracey Leigh Gardner, lost his appeal that argued a lack of insufficient evidence to support conviction for second-degree murder. Although Gardner's body was never recovered, the court's opinion agreed with the state's arguments that Gardner's disappearance and lack of contact with family and friends and use of credit cards was enough to show that Gardner was dead.

Robert Jarrett Jr. was convicted Tuesday of murdering his wife, following a trial in which prosecutors described him as a "cold-blooded killer" who allowed his sons to walk over her body buried beneath their backyard shed for two decades. Howard County jurors handed down a guilty verdict on one count of second-degree murder after deliberating into the night, bringing an end to a years-long investigation. Prosecutors, who had pushed for a first-degree murder conviction, said they would seek the maximum penalty of 30 years in prison at Jarrett's sentencing, scheduled in August.

A man whose wife disappeared five years ago was found guilty Friday of second-degree murder by a Baltimore County jury. The case is believed to be the first of its kind in the county to be tried without a body, and family members said they will persist in trying to find the remains of Tracey Leigh Gardner. Dennis J. Tetso, 45, who had been free on bail since his arrest in June 2009, was led away in handcuffs and faces a 30-year term when he is sentenced on Nov. 23. Tetso and his 32-year-old wife had been having marital problems when she vanished in March 2005 on her way to a Motley Crue concert in Washington, according to testimony.

A 38-year-old stockbroker was convicted of second-degree murder yesterday for killing his girlfriend in her Glen Burnie apartment by stabbing her two dozen times, slashing her throat and smashing her on the head with a hammer.Thomas General Jr. of the 1600 block of N. Capitol St. in Washington was convicted by a jury that deliberated three hours before finding him guilty of murder in the death of Mary Gadson in her apartment in the 7800 block of Tall Pines Court on June 5 but also finding that the crime lacked the premeditation required for a first-degree murder conviction.

City police have charged a 42-year-old man in the killing of a woman in East Baltimore last month. Daryl Cloude, of the 1200 block of Ashland Ave., was taken into custody Monday and charged in the killing of Patsy Person, 43, who was found dead July 10 inside her home in the 200 block of N. Belnord Ave. Police said she was suffering from trauma to her head and was pronounced dead on the scene. The relationship between Cloude and Person, if any, was unclear, though Person pressed assault and theft charges against Cloude in May. Court records show Cloude was on probation for an assault conviction in 2008.

A Frostburg State University student convicted of fatally stabbing another student in 2011 was sentenced Monday to 14 years in prison. Shanee Liggins, at the time a 23-year-old senior business major, stabbed Kortneigh McCoy, 19, at an off-campus party. Witnesses said Liggins threatened another partygoer with a knife and McCoy stepped in to head off the dispute. Liggins pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in December. Her 14-year prison sentence includes anger management treatment and a mental health evaluation, according to court records.

A Harford County man accused of stabbing his roommate multiple times in a fight over a cellphone Friday has been charged with first degree assault and attempted second degree murder, the sheriff's office said. Antoine Eugene Parker-Washington, 27, from Abingdon was being held on a $500,000 bond following the charges in connection with the stabbing of his roommate, Michael Darren Thomas, 27. Deputies responded to the pair's apartment in the Woodsdale complex shortly before 10 p.m. and found Thomas suffering multiple stab wounds, officials said.

Attorneys for the man convicted of killing 16-year-old Phylicia Barnes have asked a judge for a new trial, arguing that prosecutors made improper statements to the jury and withheld information. Michael Maurice Johnson was convicted this month of second-degree murder in the death of Barnes, a North Carolina high school student, who was visiting relatives in Baltimore when she disappeared in December 2010. Most of the arguments made by Johnson's attorneys center on a crucial witness named James McCray, who testified that Johnson contacted him for help in disposing of Barnes' body.

An Annapolis woman was charged Thursday with murdering her two-year-old daughter, and the city's police also said she disposed of the body. Chelsea Booth, 25, of the first block of Bens Drive, is facing charges of first- and second-degree murder, and child abuse, according to court records. She was held without bond at the Anne Arundel County jail. Police said a "concerned citizen" reported Wednesday not having seen Kassidey Booth in recent days. They said an investigation indicated that the mother killed Kassidey earlier this week and disposed of her body.

UPDATE: A Baltimore jury has found Michael Maurice Johnson guilty of second-degree murder in the killing Phylicia Barnes, a North Carolina teenager whose body was found in the Susquehanna River in 2011, months after a mysterious disappearance that drew national attention.   Lawyers on both sides   had acknowledged in closing arguments  that the evidence against Johnson was circumstantial. But while defense attorneys described flaws and inconsistencies, prosecutors said the facts pointed to Johnson as the only reasonable suspect.

A 21-year-old Edgewood man has been arrested and charged in the shooting death of an Edgewood teenager last Thursday night that also left another Edgewood teenager in the hospital. Garfield Smith III, of the 1600 block of Candlewood Court, is charged with first- and second-degree murder, first- and second-degree assault and use of a firearm in the death of Michael Wayne Kearins, 17, of the 1900 block of Harewood Road in Edgewood, according to a media release from the Harford County Sheriff's Office.