Father-to-be among latest homicide victims as Baltimore on cusp of 300 killings for eighth-straight year
BALTIMORE -- Baltimore remains close to 300 homicides after police reclassified two killings Monday.
As of Monday afternoon, the city stood at 299 homicides. This is likely to be the eighth-straight year with more than 300 killings.
In Cherry Hill, pieces of crime scene tape litter the courtyard between blocks of apartments on in the 3400-block of Spelman Road where a 34-year-old man was shot several times just before 10:30 pm Saturday. He died at a hospital.
Sunny knew the victim since childhood. She identified him as Willie Vincent.
"He was having a baby soon, so he was trying to change his life for his kid because he just came home," she told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren. "My prayers go out to his family, and it's just sad, man. We're living in some crazy times right now. Me, personally, I just feel like we all need to do better as a community."
Vincent would have been the 300th homicide victim, but police changed their classification for two killings.
In the first case, Baltimore police said it was too soon to list the death of activist Tyree Moorehead, who was shot by police earlier this month, as a homicide. They are waiting for the investigation to be completed.
Police also said a shooting death from February at 800 Glade Court is now considered a "justified" killing.
"After further investigation it has been determined that Marcus Harris shot Edward Johnson. Edward Johnson in turn, shot Marcus Harris. Both victims succumbed to their injuries as a result of this incident and were counted as murders. The death of Marcus Harris was determined to be justified and has been removed from the Homicide Statistics for 02/21/2022," police wrote in a statement to WJZ.
In a new interview, incoming governor Wes Moore reflected on the continuing loss of life in Baltimore.
"There is no higher priority for any chief executive than making sure your people are safe. "It is the number one priority for any chief executive, and it will be mine as well," Moore said. "We have to work in partnership with our local jurisdictions to ensure that we can get and keep violent offenders off of our streets, that we can keep these illegal guns out of our neighborhoods, and make sure that we're investing in the programs and the platforms that are actually working to keep people safe every day now."
Baltimore police said from Friday through Sunday they made 65 arrests including 14 for handgun violations. There were two people killed, including Vincent, and seven others were shot and survived.
Sunny is losing hope that the pace of homicides will slow down.
"Murders are always going to happen wherever you go, any part of the city you go," she said. "Nowhere is safe, not even in your house."
