His name is Charles Y. McGaney, and just as City Hall officials thought, he lives one block behind the Northwood Shopping Center. He's local. From the neighborhood. And now he's been arrested in the Sept. 20 fatal shooting of former Councilman Kenneth N. Harris Sr.
Police last night charged McGaney in an arrest warrant with first and second-degree murder, armed robbery and other related charges. He's 20, and his last known address was in the 1600 block of Lochwood Road, behind the nightspot where Harris was killed in what police say was a robbery gone bad. Police announced the warrant at a news conference this morning and said they knew the name of a second suspect.
Police raided five houses in Northeast Baltimore looking for McGaney, but came up empty. They got him later this morning, shortly after the news conference. Within hours, they'd picked up the second suspect, too. Authorities said that McGaney's name surfaced early in the investigation, and that detectives had talked to him repeatedly. But only recently, Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III told reporters, did his name reach the top of their long list of possible suspects.
It is not known whether police believe this suspect is the shooter. Bealefeld did confirm he is one of the three people captured in a grainy photo taken by a surveilance camera. Bealefeld has said in the past they had forensic DNA evidence -- they recovered a mask and other evidence from the scene -- but had no suspsect to link it to. This morning, Bealefeld wouldn't elaborate, saying he had to be careful not to jeopardize a case that consumed countless hours from many detectives and prosecutors.
We still don't know much about the case or McGaney -- he has a list of prior arrests in Baltimore County and the city, Bealefeld said, and the ones in the city are on streets all around the shopping center. Today's announcement probably won't end the countless rumors and accusations about the case -- Bealefeld was called to a City Council hearing earlier this month to answer questions about why there no arrest yet and to update the investigation. Some community members, including Harris' mother, have complained that police have been silent on who the woman was in the car with Harris when he was killed and have implied that Harris was targeted in something other than a robbery.
Bealefeld again wouldn't answer questions about the woman (she is a witness) but reiterated that detectives believe Harris was shot as part of a robbery gone bad. He praised detectives who have spent weeks tracking down leads but cautioned that, "This announcement begins the justice process." There are still arrests to made, other suspects to be identified and caught, and convictions to be obtained.
"We had to ensure that we dotted every 'i' and crossed every 't' so that justice is served," Bealefeld said. "We would not be hurried or rushed into making premature judgements or doing anything that would jeopardize this case. ... This is only the beginning. There is much, much more work yet to be done."
These words seemed aimed at family and community leaders who pressured the police for a quick arrest. The department has come under criticism for low clearance rates with murders, and the City Hall hearing only inflamed passions not only about the Harris case, but about other unsolved killings in the city.
Bealefeld complained early in the investigation that only two people living around the Northwood Shopping Center called detectives with tips. More calls came as police pushed hard for information. City Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake insisted for weeks that the suspects lived near the shopping center that people in the neighborhood had information that could help solve the case.
She was right.
Mayor Sheila Dixon seized on that this morning, telling reporters, "The individual lived in the community. It is so important that we have community insight. This is a senseless crime. We have to send a message, particularly to our young people, that this is unacceptable and (the suspects) will have to pay."
Dixon said officials and others have been "too soft" in talking about murder in Baltimore and that she too anxiously awaited police to name a suspect in the Harris case. She was standing next to Annette Harris, the slain councilman's wife.
"I felt the frustrations that Annette about having information," Dixon said. "I knew Ken Harris for years and I knew how he loved this city. Life is precious. We have to value it and we have to send that message out.
Annette then spoke, telling reporters that her husband was "a true champion of justice" and she urged, "I pray that justice prevails."
Bealefeld didn't release much information about his detectives pulled together this case. In the days, weeks and months to come, we will learn much more about McGaney, his friends, his family and the neighborhood in which he lived. Eventually, we will also get a clearer idea of the motive, and hopefully put to rest the rumors that have split the Harris family and have only caused more grief and left us with unanswered questions.
