A 59-year-old Southwest Baltimore man remained free Monday after the the man he was arrested and charged with beating with a baseball bat died over the weekend, police said.
Prosecutors had not yet upgraded charges against Walter Wayne Kelly Jr., who was charged last week with attempted first-degree murder in the Aug. 2 beating of 25-year-old Theodore Corwin. Corwin was found with his head bleeding and was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center in critical condition, police said.
Court records show Kelly was initially held without bond by a District Court commissioner, but was released on his own recognizance by District Judge Askew W. Gatewood Jr. at a bail review hearing Friday.
On Saturday, Corwin died of his injuries, police said. Charging documents were not available Monday, and police did not disclose a motive. As of Monday afternoon, the charges had not been upgraded and Kelly remained free.
A woman who answered the phone at Kelly's residence said he was outside doing work. She said the beating incident was "just heat of the moment. It just happened," and then hung up the phone.
Kelly, of the 1800 block of McHenry St., does not appear to have a prior criminal record beyond a prescription drug charge that was dropped last fall. Police said Corwin, who had a long record, might have been homeless.
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