Murders this Week: 2
Murders this Year: 31

Paul Simons III, a 23-year-old African-American man, died March 5, not March 6 as previously reported. City Paper regrets the error.

Another March 5 death was added to the homicide rolls this week. Charles Hopson, a 23-year-old African-American man, died nearly a year after he was stabbed. Police found Hopson lying in a driveway in the 1100 block of Cooks Lane near the western city line March 31, 2010. He spent the rest of his life in a nursing home on life support before dying March 5. His death was ruled a result of the stabbing.

Saturday, March 12

6:15 p.m. Tanise Ervin, a 19-year-old African-American woman, was at a deli at the corner of Gorsuch Avenue and Independence Street in Better Waverly with two men in their early 20s. As the trio left the deli, someone started shooting at them. They tried to run but all three were hit. The males survived. Ervin was shot in the back and died at a local hospital at 6:29 p.m. Ervin is the first female murdered this year but the fifth teenager.

Updates

Gregory Tooson, a 47-year-old African-American man, was convicted of second-degree murder and theft Feb. 25. Tooson was dating Melody Smith, a 54-year-old African-American woman. Smith was granted a protective order against Tooson in April 2009. On April 21 of that year, Smith was discovered in her living room partially naked and in an advanced state of decomposition. She died from asphyxiation and head trauma.

Kevon Jefferson, a 20-year-old African-American man, was sentenced to life plus 20 years March 8. Jefferson got into an argument with Antwon Witherspoon, an 18-year-old African-American man, on July 13, 2009. During the fight Jefferson shot Witherspoon repeatedly. Jefferson was 18 at the time of the murder.

On March 10, Donyea King, a 22-year-old African-American man, was convicted of robbery and handgun charges in connection with the murder of Phillip Gaddy, a 41-year-old African-American man. Gaddy and another person parked their car in the 1700 block of Abbotston Street on June 24, 2008. Gaddy tried to go into a nearby store but it was closed. King and two other men, who have not been identified, followed Gaddy back to his car and tried to rob him. Gaddy tried to comply but one of the unidentified men shot Gaddy when he reached into his pockets to give the gunmen his possessions.

Timothy Crockett, a 26-year-old African-American man, was convicted of two conspiracy to commit murder charges March 11. According to the State’s Attorney’s Office, Crockett shot Djuan Anderson and Darrius Harris, both 17-year-old African-American males, in the head in a West Baltimore park on June 12, 2008. Crockett had been released from a federal prison two weeks before the double murder. The jury was unable to come to a consensus on the other charges, which included murder and handgun violations. Crockett’s co-defendant Davon Johnson—also known as Davon Marshall—a 20-year-old African-American man, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder Jan. 13, 2010.

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