Police Informants Face Injury, Death
Afro American Newspapers, News Report, Zenitha Prince, Posted: Jan 24, 2005
BALTIMORE MD -- "Maria Brown" is what we call her. That's not her real name. Forced to assume an incognito lifestyle, she fled her home on the 1300 block of Caroline St. in the summer of 2001. Her life has never been the same. She lives in constant fear, an impetus that has driven her from pillar to post, and finally out of state.
She had purchased her home earlier that year with the hope that she and her then 9-year-old son would have a better life, but that was before she knew about the thriving and blatant drug trade that dominated that neighborhood.
"My son and I would come home and find people sitting on cars and on my front steps selling drugs," Brown said. "They were so rude, they wouldn't even get off the stoop to let us pass."
Drug traders even stashed their loot in her yard and left used vials on her property, so she put up signs asking them to stop, which were summarily ignored.
"I got to the point where I got tired of it, so I called the police; but the police didn't do anything," Brown said.
Instead, officers parked patrol cars directly in front of her house, alerting drug traders to her calls. And they retaliated -- Brown's tires were slashed, she was shot at and her son was attacked at his school. But when Brown's skull was bust open with a 40-ounce beer bottle, she knew it was time to leave.
"I didn't feel safe in Baltimore anymore because you never knew where these people were, or who they knew, or who was watching," Brown said.
But at the same time, she wondered if it was possible. In that neighborhood, no one was likely to her house; and though the police had offered to enroll her in the witness protection program, the benefits were only three months rent and nothing else, Brown said.
"How do you just pick up and start somewhere else?" Brown said.
Because of her experience, Brown said, she understood the plight of the Dawson family, who were assassinated in 2002 for telling police about drug activity in Brown's neighborhood, and of the 59-year-old woman whose house was recently firebombed for informing police about the open-air drug market near her home on East Lorraine Avenue.
Police said the community activist awoke to flames at about 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 15, after Molotov cocktails -- makeshift bombs made of glass bottles filled with flammable fluids -- were thrown at her house in the Harwood neighborhood, just east of Charles Village.
As of Jan. 19, police said, six men have been charged with the crime and are being held without bail -- Andre Wilkins, 31, of Randallstown; Jackie Brewington, 18, of the 4100 block of Marx Ave.; Antonio Newsome, 18, of the 300 block of East Lorraine Ave.; Isaac Smith, 25; Richard Royal, 20, of the 600 block of Wyanoke Ave.; and Nakie Harris, 29, of the 2600 block of Barclay St.
All six suspects are faced with 13 charges including first- and second-degree attempted murder, first- and second-degree arson and possession of an explosive with the intent to commit bodily harm.
Detectives are seeking federal grand jury indictments, said Agent Donny Moses.
"Everybody knows that the federal penal system is a little more strict," he explained.
In the meantime, the victim, though unhurt, has had to leave her home.
"It's very sad what she went through; now she has to regroup," Brown said. "No one should be made to leave their home for speaking out. The only people who should be made to leave are the people who are dealing drugs."
Brown said she has not yet reclaimed her life and wonders if her decision to speak out was a mistake, since it seems that the drug trade is thriving, despite government claims to the contrary.
"It's a shame, but I wouldn't advise people to speak out. I almost wonder if I made a mistake in speaking out," Brown said. "These people are still on the streets selling drugs. They have no fear. They have that much control."
NCM Coverage: African American
Page
1 of 1
|
