Hammond High students still see bad blood with Mount Hebron

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Hammond High School students said “bad blood” with rival Mount Hebron High School has worsened since a teenager was killed in a violent brawl between the schools last year.

Kevin Klink, 19, of Columbia, a former Oakland Mills wrestling champion, is scheduled to be sentenced this morning for killing Mount Hebron student Robert Brazell, 17, with a blow to the head with an aluminum baseball bat.

“That fight is part of the reason we now have a partner system when we go to basketball games,” said Pat Davis, 15, a sophomore Hammond basketball player who joined friends at the nearby McDonald’s restaurant Monday after school.

“We have to watch each other so no one gets jumped in a bathroom or something.”

Davis said the rivalry intensified after the late-night melee among two dozen students Feb. 24, 2007, on Mount Hebron’s football field.

And when students gathered at that same football field for a junior varsity game this year, “there were a lot of dirty looks,” said Eric Cox, 14, a freshman Hammond football player who has only heard stories about the legendary fight.

Hammond Principal Sterlind Burke did not return calls for comment, but school system spokeswoman Patti Caplan said she was not made aware of any policy changes, including the partner system, since the incident.

“This was a very isolated incident that just happened to take place on school property and had nothing to do with a school event,” Caplan said.

“We’re fortunate enough to have school resource officers who do a very good job managing things that happen in the community that might spill over into the school system.”

Klink, who claims he was acting in defense of a friend being pummeled by Brazell, pleaded guilty in January to voluntary manslaughter and a dangerous weapon charge.

“In a situation like that, you only have a second to react,” said Allen Coleman, 16, a Hammond basketball player who says he’s been in several fights.

“You’re going to swing where you know it will take somebody out.”

Coleman said a life sentence was harsh for someone so young, but 10 years for manslaughter “doesn’t seem like it’s enough.”

According to a binding plea agreement, Howard Circuit Judge Lenore Gelfman will sentence Klink to 10 years in prison for manslaughter and three for the dangerous weapon charge. Klink was originally charged with first-degree murder carrying a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Mount Hebron Principal David Brown said the school did not recognize the one-year anniversary of Brazell’s death this month.

cpeirce@baltimoreexaminer.com

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