Dundalk couple rescued from burning rowhouse
DUNDALK -- A couple rescued by Baltimore County firefighters from their burning rowhouse early yesterday morning were in critical but stable condition yesterday at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, said fire Capt. Glenn A. Blackwell.
The fire began about 5 a.m. in the couple's house in the 7800 block of Charlesmont Road, Blackwell said. Firefighters found the woman in the kitchen on the first floor and her husband upstairs, he said. Both are in their 70s; neither was identified by fire officials yesterday.
The cause of the one-alarm fire remained under investigation late yesterday. Fire investigators found a smoke detector with no batteries, Blackwell said.
It was the second fire in the county in less than 24 hours. A child playing with matches started a house fire in Randallstown Thursday afternoon, Blackwell said. Four people, including a 2-year-old, were hospitalized with nonlife-threatening injuries, he said.
Request for new trial rejected in infant's killing
ANNAPOLIS -- The Court of Special Appeals rejected yesterday Orlandus E. Giddens' request for a new trial and upheld his "depraved heart" second-degree murder and child-abuse convictions.
Giddens, a former special education and art teacher, was sentenced last year to 25 years in prison for fatally beating his 7-week-old daughter in their Reisterstown home.
In his appeal, Giddens said the Baltimore County Circuit Court judge should have allowed a new trial because a state expert had used the wrong method of determining the time of his daughter's injury. The Court of Special Appeals disagreed and said the judge had acted properly.
In Baltimore City
Death in June of injuries from 1986 ruled a homicide
The June death of an East Baltimore man has been ruled a homicide stemming from a 1986 assault, city police said yesterday.
York Mitchell, 51, was found unresponsive about 10 p.m. June 12 at Lorien Frankford Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in the 5000 block of Frankford Ave. He was pronounced dead that night at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. The state medical examiner ruled that Mitchell died of complications from a head injury he suffered in a 1986 assault.
Police said they are investigating the case. The death pushed the city's homicide total to 248 this year, compared with 250 at this time last year.
In Howard County
Bail review is postponed for man in stepfather's killing
ELLICOTT CITY -- A bail review hearing for Gordon Norman Overby, who is accused of fatally shooting his stepfather, was postponed yesterday.
Overby shot Rodry Donald Webb at his home in the 1300 block of Driver Road in Marriottsville on Wednesday, Howard County police say. Webb was a popular math teacher at Milford Mill Academy in Baltimore County.
Overby, of the 900 block of Cooks Lane in Baltimore, did not have a lawyer at yesterday's hearing and requested a public defender. His bail review was postponed to allow time for him to be assigned a lawyer. A new court date was not set yesterday.
In Anne Arundel, Police officer is injured in crash during car chase
HANOVER -- An Anne Arundel County police officer was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center last night with minor injuries suffered when his cruiser swerved off the road and into some woods while chasing a stolen car near Hanover, Officer Michael Krok said.
The police cruiser drove into the woods about 9:40 p.m. at Ridge and Stoney Run roads. The officer, whose name was not disclosed, was taken to the hospital as a precaution, police said.
Police were looking last night for the driver of the stolen car, Krok said.