Slain Baltimore Co. Man's Mother Speaks Out
LOCHEARN, Md. (WJZ)-- A man is murdered in his Baltimore County neighborhood. Now the victim's mother says her son was killed because he was a witness to another crime.
Mike Schuh has more on the possible motive in this case.
Until now, homicide police have said very little until about the front yard murder in Lochearn near Woodlawn. But now, police do say there are new things to report, as well as new information from the victim's mother.
Thursday, on Woodmore Street, it all looks so normal. But Tuesday morning, Ronald Givens, 55, was found shot to death in his own front yard. His mother says someone came to the door late Monday night.
"I could tell from the tone of his voice he didn't want me out, so I said, 'Well, I'm not going out,'" Givens' mother said.
About the same time, police checked out calls about gunshots nearby.
"And if they shot him then, we're talking about 11:30 at night, he was still under that tree at 8 o'clock in the morning," she said. "You mean, people didn't walk up and down the street and didn't see a man laying there?"
The victim's mother says a court case in the city could lead to his murderer. Givens was a witness in an ongoing gun possession case.
Reporter: "The only witness to the loaded gun case was your son. You think he was killed because he was a witness?"
Mother: "I really do. I think so."
"We are aware of those issues. We've heard about those issues, but we're not commenting on that at this time," Elise Armacost, spokeswoman for the Baltimore County Police, said.
But detectives would like to talk with anyone who looked out in the streets when they heard those shots Monday night.
"We still don't have any information as to whether those reported gunshots are related to this homicide, but that is certainly something that our investigators are looking at," Armacost said.
They'd like to know information about both incidents.
The county will not confirm whether or not he was a witness, and the city prosecutors' office has not responded to WJZ's calls and requests.
Police urge anybody with information to call Metro Crime Stoppers.
