July 25, 2008
Sun coverage: Philip E. Parker Jr.'s death
Supermax as hospital
A convicted killer who was found not criminally responsible this month for his third homicide will remain incarcerated at a maximum-security prison while receiving treatment for his psychiatric illnesses from the state health department - a decision that defense attorneys say effectively "guts" the laws designed to protect the criminally insane.
Guilty verdict in bus killing
A Baltimore man with two previous murder convictions and almost two decades of documented psychiatric illnesses was found guilty but not criminally responsible yesterday in the killing of a fellow inmate aboard a prison bus - and state officials aren't sure what to do with him.
Verdict for man, system
When a twice-convicted killer in solitary confinement spent an entire night standing at his cell door talking to himself, a physician ordered that he be returned to the prison system's psychiatric facility. That decision was overturned.
Jean Marbella: Multiple missteps in life of inmate
You probably shouldn't take his word on it, but a fellow inmate diagnosed Kevin Johns thusly: "He was zapped out."
'Errors' led to inmate death
The judge hearing the capital murder trial of twice-convicted killer Kevin G. Johns Jr. said yesterday that when he announces his verdict, he also intends to address what a defense lawyer called the "series of errors" by prison doctors, correctional officers and others that preceded the strangling of an inmate aboard a prison bus in 2005.
Witness: Inmate hinted violence
Just five days before twice-convicted killer Kevin G. Johns Jr. is accused of strangling to death a fellow inmate on a prison bus, he told a psychologist at Baltimore's maximum-security prison that he was struggling with an "evil force" and that he might want to discontinue his therapy to protect the therapist, a forensic psychiatrist testified for the defense yesterday.
Inmate's actions called strange
Two inmates who have been housed in the same prison tier as twice-convicted killer Kevin G. Johns Jr. testified yesterday that he acted strangely in the months before authorities say he strangled another prisoner on a bus traveling from Hagerstown to a maximum-security prison in Baltimore.
Inmate testifies about seeing killing on bus
Baltimore County prosecutors wrapped up the first part of their case yesterday in the capital murder trial of a twice-convicted killer who is charged with strangling to death another inmate aboard a prison bus in February 2005.
Outburst during murder trial
Prosecutors were playing a tape recording of twice-convicted killer Kevin G. Johns Jr.'s interview with detectives investigating the killing of an inmate aboard a prison bus when the victim's father stood up in court yesterday and hurled his cane like a spear at the defendant.
Trial begins in inmate's death
Todd Vest was driving twice-convicted killer Kevin G. Johns Jr. from a Hagerstown courthouse back to prison in February 2005 when the inmate began chattering away in the back of the caged van.
Lawyers see trial's location as a life-or-death issue
The night Philip E. Parker Jr. was killed, the crime scene was on the move.
Slain inmate recalled as sweet, troubled
The brief life of Philip Eugene Parker Jr. was celebrated yesterday with laughs, tears and draft beer at the waterfront bar where his mother occasionally seeks solace - an elusive feeling ever since her son was killed in the pitch dark of a prison bus.
Inmate heavily bound at hearing
Kevin G. Johns Jr., the prisoner charged with strangling a fellow inmate on a prison bus in February, was brought to court yesterday with his ankles shackled, his wrists handcuffed to a waist chain and his hands encased in black mitts, as defense attorneys and prosecutors negotiated a schedule for future hearings and worked out an agreement to keep some evidence in the case away from the twice-convicted killer.
Death sentence to be sought for killing aboard prison bus
The Baltimore County State's Attorney's Office will seek the death penalty in the case of a twice-convicted killer charged with strangling a fellow inmate on a prison bus as it traveled from Hagerstown to Baltimore last month.
Deadly streak in Md. prisons comes amid staff reductions
The strangling death of Philip E. Parker Jr. last month as he sat shackled on a prison bus was shocking, but hardly unusual in the violent atmosphere that pervades Maryland's correctional system.
Guard on bus says suspect moved to sit next to victim
A correctional officer who was fired over the strangling death of an inmate on a prison bus said yesterday he saw a suspect in the killing move from his seat and sit next to the victim at one point during the trip.
3 guards fired over death of inmate on bus
State prison officials fired three correctional officers yesterday and disciplined two others in response to the strangling death of a 20-year-old inmate on a prison bus in the pre-dawn hours of Feb. 2.
Seating killer in bus with other inmates violated Md. policy
An inmate who was twice convicted of murder and threatened in court to kill again should not have been seated at the rear of a prison bus where Philip E. Parker Jr. was strangled this month, according to Maryland policy governing the transport of prisoners.
Parallel lives, tragic ending
In the deep darkness of the early morning, on a prison bus that became a rolling crime scene, Philip E. Parker Jr., 20, and Kevin G. Johns Jr., 22, were together one more time, the last time.
Broken lights in prison bus hid strangling, officer says
Correctional officers riding a nighttime transport in the back of a pitch-black prison bus last week noticed a commotion among the inmates, but broken interior lights kept them from seeing a 20-year-old prisoner being strangled a few feet away, according to union officials.
Suspect in bus slaying knew victim as a teen
The twice-convicted killer who is a suspect in the strangling death of another inmate on a prison bus had known the victim since both were in their teens, according to court records and interviews.
Inmate deaths spark new bill
Prison officials say the internal investigators looking into the death of an inmate on a prison bus last week are conducting an independent inquiry, but critics say that using an outside agency would eliminate any hint of bias.
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