A 21-year-old man who sources said had been interviewed as a witness to a weekend homicide was fatally shot early Thursday in Baltimore's Station North district, according to police.
The victim, who was not identified pending notification of his next of kin, was a witness to a killing that occurred Saturday night in the 300 block of E. Lafayette Ave. in the Greenmount West neighborhood, multiple sources told The Baltimore Sun.
One source said the man had been inside an apartment when 24-year-old Justin Kendrick was fatally stabbed. It was not clear whether he had cooperated with detectives, and police said they could not say for certain whether his killing was retaliation. But the appearance of cooperation has made victims targets in the past.
Police officials said the man had been offered witness protection assistance, which they said he declined.
The killings are the first this year in Station North, an emerging arts and entertainment district around Penn Station that includes Greenmount West and part of the Charles North neighborhood.
As city officials and community leaders demanded answers in the Charles Village stabbing death of Johns Hopkins researcher Stephen Pitcairn, the Station North killings just a few blocks to the south are a more typical storyline in the city's struggle with violence.
On Saturday night, police discovered a long blood trail leading from outside a building in the 300 block of E. Lafayette Ave. and up to a second-floor apartment. Inside, police said, they found Kendrick lying in a pool of blood.
Police did not disclose a motive in the attack, but noted that Kendrick had a criminal record, including several arrests and drug convictions.
An officer on patrol in the same area about 12:35 a.m. Thursday heard shots and a few moments later was dispatched for a report of a shooting, police said. He found the victim slumped over in a green lawn chair in front of the house with an apparent gunshot wound to the head, police said.
Hours later, a chair with blood drops on it was visible out front, and a group of people on the front steps of the house said they didn't know what had happened.
Marian Weaver, a resident of the neighborhood for 16 months, said by e-mail that drug dealing has become less common — or at least less overt. She said she took notice of the first killing but was "really rocked" to get news of a second.
On the corner of Barclay Street and Lafayette Avenue, a memorial for Kendrick marked a light pole, with teddy bears, Mylar balloons, melted candles and a bottle of liquor. Tacked to the pole was a note, addressed to the girlfriend, mother and children of "J-Rock."
"TO ALL YOUNG MEN: THIS IS ONE OF LIFE'S LESSONS," the note read.
Baltimore Sun reporters Peter Hermann and Liz F. Kay contributed to this article.