The body of a 35-year-old man was found this morning at rush hour in a stairwell on a downtown street, a death that police say they consider suspicious.

The corpse, on the south side of the 100 block of E. Fayette Street, between St. Paul and Calvert streets, was discovered by a passerby at about 8:30 a.m. and had not been removed almost an hour later. It lies at the bottom of steps leading to the door of a basement-level flower shop, and is not easily visible from the street.

Det. Donny Moses of the Baltimore police said at the scene that the man was carrying identification and a backpack, was lying in a fetal position and showed no outward signs of trauma.

The doorway is next to Sam's Lobby Shop and the Charles Center Metro station, and across the street from a side entrance to the Circuit Court building. Police have cordoned off the sidewalk, but traffic is flowing normally.

"It is, for the moment, classified as a suspicious death, pending further investigation," said Det. Kevin Brown, a spokesman for the police.

In a separate matter, Brown reported that Donald Carter, 39, who was shot on July 11, succumbed to his injuries on Monday afternoon, making him the 137th homicide victim in the city thus far this year, according to the police department's tally.

nick.madigan@baltsun.com

peter.hermann@baltsun.com