A 21-year-old gang member has been sentenced to life plus 50 years for killing a man on a Baltimore playground. In a separate case, another man was sentenced to 50 years in prison for what prosecutors described as a gang-initiation slaying.
In the first case, Baltimore Circuit Judge Marcus Z. Shar sentenced Black Guerrilla Family member Capone Chase on Wednesday in the killing of Ramon Rodriguez, 21, on a playground in Greektown in July 2013.
Rodriguez was shot in the presence of his pregnant girlfriend, the lone eyewitness at the trial last fall.
Rodriguez had been helping police in an investigation, prosecutors said, and Chase called him a snitch before shooting him in the head.
Chase's girlfriend heard Chase tell Rodriguez, "We have papers with your name on it," Assistant State's Attorney Elizabeth Stock said.
Chase threatened to kill the girlfriend if she told anyone about the killing, Stock said.
Police named Chase their "Public Enemy No. 1" before his arrest. He had been released from jail just days before the shooting, and Marilyn Mosby, then a candidate for Baltimore state's attorney, used that detail to portray her opponent as soft on the most dangerous criminals.
A jury convicted Chase of first-degree murder and other charges. Authorities have not been able to identify a second suspect with Chase at the time of the killing.
Also Wednesday, 27-year-old Alvin Kelley Jr. was sentenced to 50 years in prison for killing Jefferie Thomas Jr., 22, in August 2012 in the 3000 block of W. Garrison Ave.
A jury convicted Kelley of second-degree murder and handgun offenses after finding him not guilty of first-degree murder, court records show.
Prosecutors believe the shooting was part of a gang initiation.
Thomas was shot in the back of the head, in the upper back and through his right hand. Prosecutors said they believe he was shot execution-style, on his knees and with his hands behind his head.
Kelley was arrested three weeks after the shooting. Prosecutors said police found the murder weapon in his vehicle.