The first thing that struck me was how young these juvenile suspects appeared in their adult mugshots. I'm used to seeing teens charged as adults, but the two 14-year-old boys and the 16-year-old girl charged with stabbing a man on on Maryland Avenue Monday afternoon looked liked they belonged in elementary school.
The daylight attack near Penn Station and the University of Baltimore Law School once again raised questions about the safety of the swath of real estate between Mid-Town Belvedere south of North Avenue and Charles Village to the north. The area is targeted for revitalization, with the Station North arts district and all, but the stretch still seems a no-mans land that could link two vibrant city neighborhoods.
Today's story on the stabbings repeats some of these concerns raised earlier when Stephen Pitcairn was fatally stabbed on St. Paul Street in Charles Village while walking home from a bus at Penn Station. The latest victim on Monday was walking south.
The suspects charged in his case are charged with attempted first-degree murder and several other crimes. Police identified them as Keith Omar Anderson, 14, of Glen Burnie (at left in photos); Lawrence Antonio Horton Jr., 14, of East Baltimore (in the middle); and Daysha Wilson, 16, of East Baltimore.
Here is some chilling accounts from the police report and court charging documents:
Baltimore police say one boy asked for change for a $5 bill from a man Monday afternoon on Maryland Avenue. When the man said he didn't have any, police say the other boy plunged a knife into the right side of his back and left him for dead near the University of Baltimore Law School campus.
The victim, bleeding profusely, tried to snap pictures of the fleeing assailants with his cell phone. Later, when one boy asked the other why he stabbed the man, the first youth answered: "He had change, he should have gave it to you." The exchange was recounted in a court document.
Police chased one youth across the rooftops along Hargrove Avenue and captured him with the other two behind one of the suspect's houses in the 1700 block of St. Paul St. Police said in court documents that an officer spotted one boy using grass to wipe a blade clean of blood.
Charging documents identify Horton as the youth who asked for change and Anderson as the one who stabbed him. Anderson told police he went back to the wounded man and asked if he was OK.
According to charging documents, the girl broke down crying and told police, "I didn't know he would actually do it. I'm not a mind reader. How was I supposed to know he was going to stab him?"