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By Anna Ditkoff | Posted 1/7/2009

Murders This Week: 9
Murders in 2008: 234
Murders in 2009: 7

As 2008 ended and 2009 began, Baltimore City continued its backslide. Though the city's 2008 homicide total was its lowest since 1988, there was an uptick in murders during the last two months of the year. The trend continues into the new year, with seven murders on record for 2009 by Jan. 5, compared to just two at the same time last year.

Even though 2008's final homicide tally was markedly lower than that of 2007--234 homicides in 2008 vs. 282 in 2007--Baltimore's per capita homicide rate exceeds that of many neighboring cities. If Baltimore had Washington, D.C.'s homicide rate, there would only have been 202 murders here this year; if it had Philadelphia's, there would only have been 146; and if Baltimore had New York City's homicide rate, only 40 of its citizens would have lost their lives to violence this year.

The two women murdered last week have been identified. The woman shot in the head on Dec. 23 in the 800 block of South Bouldin Street in Canton was 22-year-old Alaina High. The woman shot repeatedly in the 1900 block of North Broadway, just south of Clifton Park, was Lisa Bushrod, a 42-year-old African-American.

At the end of 2008, one homicide victim from the year still has not been identified. A skeleton was found in a wooded area in the 4800 block of Strathdale Road in Frankford on April 30. Police know the victim was male and was shot to death but they still do not know his name.

Monday, Dec. 29

10:58 p.m. Police were called to the scene of a shooting in the 800 block of Chauncey Avenue in Reservoir Hill. When they arrived, they found a 37-year-old African-American woman shot. She had tried to escape the house, but collapsed in the doorway. She told police that Antonio Coby, a 28-year-old African-American man, had also been shot. He was lying on the kitchen floor. Coby had been shot in the head and was dead. The woman survived.

Tuesday, Dec. 30

12:23 p.m. Someone working on a sewer line in Leakin Park found a badly burned body in the woods. The body was that of Petro Taylor, a 20-year-old African-American man. Police later discovered that Taylor had been beaten to death in the 5800 block of Reisterstown Road. His body was then dumped in Leakin Park.

Thursday, Jan. 1

12:55 a.m. Just after midnight on New Year's Day, Mario Williams, a 31-year-old African-American man from Owings Mills, was shot in the head outside a bar at North Luzerne Avenue and East Monument Street in East Baltimore. He died at an area hospital at 8 p.m. that night.

Friday, Jan. 2

4:56 a.m. Police received a call for a shooting in the 1100 block of Orleans Street just two blocks from Baltimore's main Post Office. There they discovered Marcel Mitchell, a 20-year-old African-American man from East Baltimore, lying in the street shot numerous times. Glenn Cunnigham, a 22-year-old African-American man from Pikesville, was found in the vestibule of an apartment complex in the block. He had also been shot several times. Cunningham was dead. Mitchell was taken to an area hospital but was dead by the time he arrived.

5:37 p.m. Andre Thorpe, a 17-year-old African-American male, was shot in the head in the middle of the street in the 800 block of North Kenwood Avenue. He was taken to a nearby hospital in grave condition and died at the end of the week. This is the second homicide in the Madison-Eastend neighborhood in the first four days of 2009.

Sunday, Jan. 4

7:49 p.m. Trevane Ricks, a 16-year-old African-American male, and an as-yet-unidentified African-American girl, who police believe was also a minor, were shot at an apartment building in the 5600 block of Loch Raven Boulevard near Good Samaritan Hospital. Ricks was shot in the chest and died at a local hospital an hour later. The girl was shot in the side and died at 10:57 p.m. This is the second double homicide in the first four days of 2009.

8:40 p.m. People living in the 4000 block of Chesmont Avenue off Belair Road heard gunshots. When they went outside, they found Lougene Williams III, a 20-year-old African-American man, lying in the middle of the street shot in the right shoulder. He died at a local hospital that night.

Email Anna Ditkoff

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HuntressLava

42 comments.

Member since 2/21/2008

DAMN!!! R.I.P. LOUIE BBY, I KAN'T BELIEVE YOUR GONE. I GUESS THE GOOD DIE YOUNG LIKE THEY SAY.. WELL I'LL SEE YU SOON AND ILY BAY.

DAMN, MAYRESA AND TREVANE,

Man I kant believe yall are gone either, this year has been terrible so far. Of all ppl yall werent supposed to die that way. ILY AND IMMA MISS YALL.

DAMN, PETRO

Y THEY HAD TO DO YU LIKE THAT BAY??? IMMA MISS YU AND ILY TOO..

Posted 1.12.2009 6:46 PM

bmorenewb

149 comments.

Member since 4/20/2007

........good god.........

Posted 1.13.2009 8:25 AM

joecool

13 comments.

Member since 1/6/2009

HuntressLava,

if you know 4 different people who all died in the last 2 or 3 weeks, I'm assuming the odds are pretty good that you know exactly who committed some/all of these murders. Maybe you should come forward (or give an anonymous tip) - I'm sure you owe it to your deceased friends, and I'm sure it's what they would want.

Posted 1.13.2009 1:47 PM

bmorenewb

149 comments.

Member since 4/20/2007

huntress is too busy playing world of warcraft with the rest of his 14 yr old buddies to do that. im almost willing to put up good money for huntress to tell us who he really is. im betting a 14 yr old computer nerd from dundalk.

Posted 1.14.2009 9:48 AM

HuntressLava

42 comments.

Member since 2/21/2008

Actually im a 19 year old female from towson... and i have told the police all that i know about each of these crimes... im distraught and very depressed about all of this... none of these ppl were gangbangers,drug dealers, or bad ppl. they were hard workers,students and very good friends... this year has been terrible for me so far. 4 funerals and it hasnt even been a month yet... but thankz joecoll for your input.. but i have already did that.......

Posted 1.14.2009 11:16 AM

bmorenewb

149 comments.

Member since 4/20/2007

holy feces batman!!!!!!!! it actually can write normal, understandable english!!!

Posted 1.14.2009 11:31 AM

QueensNY

2 comments.

Member since 1/15/2009

Huntress,

TCR was my baby brother. I still can't believe he's gone.

If your sentiments are sincere, then I need you to contact me. My email address is frazier joseph at yahoo dot com. My mother and K will verify that I am legit.

If your sentiments are not sincere... then please, stop it. Despite the silly Hip Hop culture that we live in, there is nothing cool about slinging R.I.P.s out indiscriminately as if they were "shout outs."

Don't let my brother die in vain. We have to do what we can to change this world, one small step at a time.

- JJF

Posted 1.15.2009 10:16 AM

HuntressLava

42 comments.

Member since 2/21/2008

Ooo I think I saw you at the funeral. And my sentiments were very sincere the girl who passed away with trevane was my sister-in law and she was 5months pregnant. im going to email you right now.

Posted 1.15.2009 11:16 AM

QueensNY

2 comments.

Member since 1/15/2009

So then, that's three young lives we lost that night. I feel like innocence, itself, is under attack.

Posted 1.15.2009 11:54 AM

Tyr

2 comments.

Member since 1/15/2009

HuntressLava,

For that last year I've been reading your comments spouting gangster phases and talking about "keeping it real". You called names and attack those who bemoan the state of crime in this shitty city and now that you lost some friends you feel bad?

You constantly stated your admiration of the "gangsta 4 life" culture, which the readers here had to stomach, but now is even more sickening when we discover you are a 19 year old who can actually communicate without the need of gangsta speak. Like it or not, people like you (who show respect for the gangsta lifestyle and should know better) had a hand in those deaths of your friends.

Btw, two of those "good" ppl you speak of can be found in the Maryland Judiciary Case website. Petro Taylor was charged with Attempted 1st degree murder, assault, reckless endangerment, robbery and car-jacking. It also seems Lougene Williams III had a warrant out for 2nd degree assault. I wouldn't be packing that black dress away just yet, because if you consider these people "good" and "hard workers" I think you may be going to more of your friends funerals in the near future.

Posted 1.15.2009 1:11 PM

hamsandwich

34 comments.

Member since 11/25/2008

ooh, FACED!

Posted 1.15.2009 3:45 PM

HuntressLava

42 comments.

Member since 2/21/2008

What is your point about peoples past.. im not going to explain about how people change because in the end ONLY GOD CAN Really Judge. But I will say that the past is not what makes us its what we are. We now have a black president. which lets me know anything is possible with the strength of GOD.. I have changed my ways because of the past and that is all now behind me. Maybe some of yall who constanly look up deceased people's backround need to change you all's ways because your judgement doesnt matter. Ok so pedro was charged with murder and louie had a warrant for assault but you dnt know what the whole story is so until you know what the whole story is those charges dont mean anything.. My friends are deceased and while i was a gangbanger my friends were dying.. as a matter of fact i became a gangbanger as a result of my friends dying. But you are not me and you cant make the decisions i have made or have you walked in my shoes so you kant understand why i made those dicisions.. everybody makes mistakes and im at a point in my life where i have learned from my mistakes and am ready for a change. thanks for your input hun.

Posted 1.16.2009 8:34 PM

HuntressLava

42 comments.

Member since 2/21/2008

Posted 1.16.2009 8:34 PM

HuntressLava

42 comments.

Member since 2/21/2008

o and by the way...

Who are yu to judge the life i live? I know I'm not perfect and I don't live to be. But before yu start pointing fingers, make sure yur hands are clean.

Posted 1.17.2009 10:47 AM

Tyr

2 comments.

Member since 1/15/2009

No one is judging your past, it's your own idiotic statements made here and your diffinition of "good" and "bad" that is the subject scorn and debate. But since YOU brought up your past, maybe if you had as much passion about trying to better your life and your society as you do about faceless commenters on this website, you wouldn't have had to attend 4 funerals so far this year.

Posted 1.17.2009 11:16 AM

Stokes

24 comments.

Member since 8/24/2008

Was "Biggie Smalls" right when he claimed that you are nobody until somebody kills you? I feel that Anna Ditkoff does a good job in cataloging yet putting a bit of humanity behind cold statistics. I would ask HuntressLava to think about her claim that we now have a Black President and how this has anything to do with any relevant Change in her community or in that of the "hood" from which most of Anna Ditkoff's "Ink" bleeds from.

Posted 1.18.2009 2:06 PM

HuntressLava

42 comments.

Member since 2/21/2008

HISTORY HAS OFFICIALLY BEEN MADE.

YES WE DID!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA IS NOW OUR 44TH PRESIDENT

ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!

It's time to put aside our childish differences and love one another -Obama

OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Posted 1.20.2009 12:58 PM

bmorenewb

149 comments.

Member since 4/20/2007

LOL yes at noon today all the morons who sling drugs from corners and shoot random delivery men will suddenly stop and "love one another."

Posted 1.20.2009 3:21 PM

HuntressLava

42 comments.

Member since 2/21/2008

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted 1.21.2009 7:57 PM

Stokes

24 comments.

Member since 8/24/2008

I will kill Bin Laden. Presidential Debate with Mc Cain. I would prefer to capture or kill Bin Laden. Obama in a later interview. Yes this represents change. I wonder how this all meshes with the love and hope pablum that incessantly rings from every mountaintop? Happy Birthday to HuntressLava who perhaps because of a lifestyle change is here to celebrate it.

Posted 1.23.2009 6:22 PM