Murders This week: 5
Murders This Year: 65

Zenither Collins, a 32-year-old African-American man, died earlier this month, almost 10 years after he was shot. Collins was in a stolen vehicle in the 3400 block of Reisterstown Road near Druid Hill Park at 6:48 p.m. on Dec. 9, 1995, when he got in a traffic dispute with Terry Evans, a 32-year-old African-American man from Baltimore County. Collins got out of the car and approached the vehicle that Evans was in with his wife and children. Collins threatened them. Evans had a registered handgun and shot Collins several times, hitting him in the neck. Collins was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he was diagnosed as a quadriplegic. He was pronounced dead at Mercy Hospital at 3:35 a.m. on March 3, 2005. Evans pled guilty to assault in relation to the shooting in 1997. According to police, he will receive no additional charges.

Friday, March 25

12:26 p.m. Jessie Peay, a 19-year-old African-American man, was found lying facedown in the 1500 block of Presstman Street in West Baltimore’s Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood, with his girlfriend leaning over him. Peay had been shot in the head. He was taken to Shock Trauma, where he died on March 30 at 2:05 a.m. David Reid Jr., a 16-year-old African-American male from the same neighborhood, was arrested for the crime. This is the third homicide in Sandtown-Winchester this year.

Wednesday, March 30

2:39 a.m. Another 19-year-old African-American man was shot half an hour after Peay died. Gerard Chase was found shot in the head after visiting several strip clubs on the Block. He was found in the driver’s seat of a car, with its engine running, in the first block of Commerce Street, just a few blocks from the Inner Harbor. Chase, who was from Cherry Hill, was taken to Shock Trauma, where he died at 3:05 p.m. on March 31.

Friday, April 1

7:23 p.m. Jamel St. Clair, a 17-year-old African-American male, was in the 2000 block of East North Avenue when he was approached by a man. They talked, and the man pulled out a handgun and shot St. Clair repeatedly. St. Clair tried to walk away but collapsed. He was taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 8 p.m. This is the second homicide on East North Avenue this year and the fourth murder of a teenaged African-American male.

10:49 p.m. A little more than three hours later police found Wentley Roberts, a 35-year-old African-American man, lying on the sidewalk in the 5200 block of Cuthbert Avenue in Northwest Baltimore’s Arlington neighborhood. He was taken to Sinai and was pronounced dead at 11:18 p.m.

Sunday, April 3

3:03 a.m. Gary McFadden, a 27-year-old African-American man, was attending a party at the Five Seasons Ethiopian restaurant, in the 800 block of Guilford Avenue, near Center Stage. Witnesses say that the party was to welcome home someone who had been released from jail. McFadden got into a fight in the parking lot of the restaurant. He was shot once in the head at close range, and then a shootout erupted in the parking lot. McFadden was pronounced dead on the scene. A second victim, who was also hit several times but survived, walked to Mercy Hospital more than five blocks away. This is the fourth murder in the Central Police District this year.

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