A Baltimore man was sentenced on Monday to life in prison with all but 35 years suspended for his role in an armed robbery at a Waverly carryout last April in which a 72-year-old man was shot to death.
The victim, Charles Bowman, was a veteran of the Vietnam War and was blind in one eye. He had stopped by the carryout to get dinner on his way to job as an overnight security guard at the Afro-American newspaper. His shooting and another one a week later just up the street (photo by Karl Merton Ferron) prompted a community walk and heightened police patrols.
Troy Taylor, 19, of the 2700 block of Fenwick Ave. pleaded guilty in Baltimore City Circuit Court to first-degree murder, the use of a handgun in the commission of a crime, conspiracy to commit armed robbery and other charges in the holdup that took place about midnight at the Yau Bros. carryout at 29th Street and Greenmount Avenue.
His co-defendant, Michael Hunter, 20, of the 300 block of E. Belvedere Ave. is scheduled to stand trial in June.