In 2022, a typical prosecutor in the unit had more than two dozen homicide cases on the court schedule, Mr. Dunty said. One handled 17 homicide jury trials in a single year. And the murders did not stop: Beyond the cases in court, each prosecutor was working on 20 to 25 open investigations.
“We all recognized it wasn’t sustainable,” said Mr. Dunty, 51, now chief of the homicide division.
Families gathered Saturday at Sinclair Lane Elementary for Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan Bates’ third annual back-to-school cookout and backpack giveaway.
FBI Baltimore, in collaboration with local, state, and federal officials, announced the results of a large-scale fugitive warrant sweep in Maryland and Delaware, resulting in over 100 arrests, the seizure of firearms and the removal of dangerous offenders from both states.
The men set up folding chairs and linger on the stoop of a shuttered club in Southwest Baltimore. Each day, they congregate almost directly underneath police signs declaring “NO LOITERING.” Their presence unnerves 65-year-old Robert Richardson Jr., who lives across the street. He said he’s witnessed what he suspects are hand-to-hand drug sales with motorists and other passersby. Richardson tinted his home’s windows so the men wouldn’t see him watching. “I want to open the door. Believe it or not, it’s a very nice community,” Richardson said of the Shipley Hill neighborhood where he chose to retire. “It’s uncomfortable. There are seniors there. I don’t think it’s fair for me to pay property taxes and see it daily.”
Baltimore City State's Attorney Ivan Bates detailed one instance where Houchins claimed to be pulling over a car when in fact he was ordering a smoothie.
The federal indictment, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland on July 22 and unsealed Wednesday, alleges that Luther Amos, Antoine Benjamin, Wendell Boykins Jr., Davon Brown, Zy’Quin Coleman, Xavier Cooper, Antonio Curtis, Walter Epps, Keith Fryson, James Keene, Antonio Mason, Miayon Medley, Gregory Alexander Partlow and Darien Whitaker conducted daily drug sales at these open-air markets between Dec. 15, 2025, and July 22, 2026.
Thompson's 2017 indictment marked the first brought by the state's attorney's office's Cold Case Homicide Unit, according to officials.
A jury returned the verdict in the joint trial for Terrill Barfield, 40, and Jarvis Joyner, 35, on Monday, also finding the two guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and firearms charges. Barfield was additionally found guilty of reckless endangerment.
The push follows recurring concerns in Ocean City, where large groups of young people gathered near 120th Street over the Fourth of July weekend, prompting some businesses to close temporarily. Police reported no widespread takeover or major violence this year, but an unsanctioned event during the 2025 holiday weekend led to traffic disruptions, fights and a shooting.
