Police Scour East Baltimore Area Where Elderly Woman Was Murdered
BALTIMORE (WJZ)—A retired school principal is murdered, and then her house set on fire. The crime is triggering outrage in her East Baltimore neighborhood.
Adam May has an update on the investigation.
Police are handing out fliers, trying to find new witnesses.
Baltimore City Police scour the 2600-block of East Biddle Street, hoping to find new information in the murder of 84-year-old Mary Hines.
"This isn't something that we just sit back and say nothing about," said Major Melvin Russell, Baltimore Police. "Somebody needs to pick up the phone. Somebody needs to call us."
The retired school principal was stabbed, and then her home was apparently set on fire last Thursday.
"Everyone is upset about it," said Butch Wes, neighbor. "Who wants to see that happen in their community?"
Wes has lived in the East Biddle Street neighborhood for 50 years.
"She's like one of the mothers. She watched everyone raise kids and helped raise some of them," Wes said.
"I used to cut Ms. Mary's grass," said Terrance Gee, who says he is now upset and outraged.
"There's a lot of elderly that live in this neighborhood, and we try to keep this community as best kept as possible," Gee said.
Police have few leads in the case, but the lead detective is optimistic.
"Mrs. Hines was loved and respected by every person we've spoken with. This is a human being that no one has had a negative thing to say about," said Detective Josh Ellsworth.
Neighbors hope this search leads to an arrest.
"I have never seen anything like this before. It's so sad," said one neighbor.
"I hope they catch whoever did it. She was a sweet old lady, a sweet old lady," said another neighbor.
Police say previous canvasses like this have helped in other cases. They are not identifying any suspects.
Metro Crime Stoppers is offering a reward up to $2,000 for information that leads to an arrest. Just call 1-866-7LOCKUP. Calls are not recorded and callers may remain anonymous.
This is the second murder in Baltimore City so far this new year.
