Stabbing Death

A 17-year-old pleaded guilty yesterday to being an accessory after the fact in the stabbing death of a 15-year-old girl whose body was found by her mother last summer in her Southwest Baltimore home. Lloyd Chase of the 2100 block of McHenry St. faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, prosecutors said. The victim, Christine Richardson, was killed July 10 in her home in the 300 block of S. Fulton Ave. She suffered multiple stab wounds and her throat was slashed after an argument, according to the city state's attorney's office.

A 59-year-old Ohio woman was arrested yesterday and charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of a Baltimore man more than 30 years ago, authorities said. Until her arrest in Columbus, Wynona Lowe's case had been one of the oldest of thousands of cases in which people had been charged by city police with crimes ranging from petty theft to murder but never arrested, said Sgt. Scott Rowe, a city police spokesman. Two weeks ago, police commanders announced that they were going to make reducing that backlog a priority as part of an initiative by the Police Department under Mayor Martin O'Malley to cut the city's homicide rate.

A 34-year-old East Baltimore man, charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of his mother on Saturday, was being held at the City Jail, police said.About 11:30 a.m. Saturday, police responded to a call of a domestic disturbance and found the body of Annie Clinton, 61, in her home in the 800 block of Allendale St. She had been stabbed several times with a kitchen knife, police said.Rodney Clinton, of the 5400 block of Cedonia Ave., was arrested without incident at his mother's home, police said.

City police have obtained an arrest warrant charging Irvin Merritt, 46, of the 900 block of Bonaparte Ave. with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of his girlfriend, Fredericka Moseley, 46, in the 200 block of N. Bond St. on Feb. 16. Merritt -- who is being sought -- is known to frequent vacant dwellings in East Baltimore, police said. He is accused of stabbing Moseley in the neck during a violent struggle. Metro Crime Stoppers at 410-276-8888 is offering a reward of up to $2,000 for information leading to an arrest and indictment.

Police said yesterday that they had made no arrests and knew of no motive in the stabbing death of a woman whose body was found Friday in an alley about four blocks from her Southwest Baltimore home. Latonia Venessa Shuler, 35, of the 400 block of S. Augusta Ave. in Norwood Heights was found dead of multiple stab wounds about 8 a.m. in the alley behind the odd side of the first block of S. Culver St., police said. Shuler was identified through fingerprints. Anyone with information is urged to call Detective Keith Benson at 410-396-2100.

A 39-year-old Baltimore woman has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for the stabbing death of her Arbutus boyfriend.In pronouncing the sentence, Baltimore County Circuit Court Judge John F. Fader II acknowledged an "excellent presentation" by the attorney for Amelia H. Oconis, but said the Sept. 3, 1989, murder of Alfred Franklin Schraider was "not out of character for this lady.""She has committed numerous crimes in the past," Fader said. "She is an absolute danger to society. She has taken a life.

A bail review hearing in District Court was scheduled today for a 54-year-old man who was charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of his estranged wife over the weekend, Baltimore County police say.William Merryman Day, of the 800 block of Nannette Lane in Seneca Park in the east county, was arrested early Friday afternoon by police after a chase that ended when he crashed his car into a fence after he ran off Emala Avenue near Martin State...

Baltimore police arrested a 15-year-old boy in the stabbing death yesterday of his older brother inside an East Baltimore rowhouse, a department spokesman said. The youth was being questioned yesterday afternoon and had not been charged, said the spokesman, Officer Troy Harris. He did not identify the suspect or the slain youth, a 17-year-old. Harris said officers were called to a rowhouse in the 1100 block of N. Chester St., near Collington Square, about 10:20 a.m. and found the victim suffering from a stab wound to the side.

A Carroll County man was sentenced yesterday to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the stabbing death of his former mother-in-law, who was a fixture on local talk radio known as "Helga from Westminster." Leon A. Costley Jr., 39, showed little emotion as Carroll County Circuit Judge Michael M. Galloway imposed the sentence. On the other side of the courtroom, the victim's husband, Robert V. Nicholls Sr., and their daughter, Kristina Costley, wrapped their arms around each other and cried.