From this week's Murder Ink.
11:20 a.m. Josephine House, a 63-year-old African-American woman, lived in the 1700 block of North Port Street, just a block away from where Spriggs and Allen were killed. House, her boyfriend, and her adult son were out in her backyard Monday night drinking. Her son went upstairs to bed around midnight. House and her boyfriend, Michael Falls, a 47-year-old African-American man, stayed up and continued drinking. The next morning, House's son woke up to the sound of the phone ringing. It was Falls asking to speak to House. The son went downstairs to get her and found his mother dead. There were no obvious signs of trauma, but an autopsy revealed that she had been strangled. Police questioned Falls, who allegedly confessed to killing House. He was charged with her murder on May 29. This is the fourth murder in Broadway East this year. Only Belair-Edison has had more murders.
Do I really live in the area of the city with the most murders?
Mental Health Break
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2 comments:
Do you really jog at night? No matter where you live, a city or not, that seems extremely stupid. Get yourself some pepper spray.
Of course, the murder you mention is domestic so it wouldn't really impact you.
As for murders in Belair-Edison, there have been four of them, as well (5 if you count the one on Belair Rd that isn't really Belair-Edison). Of those four, one was a domestic dispute. The other three? Shootings, but in the less than stellar areas of Belair-Edison (think East of Brehms Lane, West of Belair). If you live in the blocks between Belair & Brehms you are in a really stable part of the neighborhood--those are all Healthy Neighborhood Blocks.
Like most of Baltimore, Belair-Edison has plenty of good blocks with working-class individuals that are trying to maintain their neighborhoods. Then, there are some blocks that are less than stellar. For someone who has lived in Baltimore for a number of years, I would think that you wouldn't lump an entire area/region together in the manner that the City Paper does--it only destroys the improvements & solidarity that so many community members work so hard for
Other places with 5 or more murders: 21201 (5), The North Ave Area between Greenmount & Edison (7), 21215 (6), 21216 (9)--west Baltimore, 21217 (9)--west Baltimore, 21218 (5), 21213 (7).
Anyway, the point is that neighborhoods in Baltimore are either really large or really small (for example, the 4X4 near Belair-Edison sometimes gets subsumed into Belair-Edison, sometimes not). This could impact the reading for most murders in a neighborhood (I always take Murder Ink with some sodium since they try to sensationalize death--it sells to our voyeuristic desire to see death and mutilation).
If you want the upside to your neighborhood, houses are still selling there (unlike some other more expensive neighborhoods in Baltimore).
Anyway, if you want to feel safer on your night jogs, check out the Baltimore Sun's homocide map so you know where the questionable areas. Still, buy some pepper spray.
Anyway, I don't have a blog, but I'm a member of the Belair-Edison Community Association. You should come to some meetings. We're always looking for new opinions & ideas. Also, you could organize your block for a Block Project--to beautify yoru block.
Thanks for writing.
I don't really jog at night-night, but definitely at dusk, and have always felt safe in the park with my dog. I did end up having to run around at night a couple weeks ago looking for my dog, but that was sort of impromptu.
Thanks for the comment. I really disagree with you about "Murder Ink," though; I think she's really trying to do good in the community by pointing out things that the MSM just doesn't.
I kind of want to buy a house in Belair-Edison (right now I'm renting), so, don't worry, I'm not turned on the area. I'm just really surprised. I checked out the murder map, and one was pretty much right at the Belair/Edison crossroads, which is very near my house. I don't think I'm guilty here of lumping a whole area together, but rather just trying not to lull myself into a false sense of security because everyone seems so nice. Frankly, I was shocked that this area leads the city, and not the neighborhoods on the west side that I have always assumed were more problematic.
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