CHANGE MY LOCATION
Gang spectre rears its head in Oakland Mills Murder
SEE HOW THIS STORY DEVELOPED
Related Topics: Howard County
Howard County (Map, News) - Howard police arrested a suspect Tuesday in a murder that rattled the Oakland Mills community this past weekend and sparked concerns of gang activity in Columbia.
Ronald McConnell, 21, of no fixed address, is charged with first- and second-degree murder in connection with the death of Jason Batts, 23, of Columbia, who was found shot to death about 2:50 a.m. Saturday outside Stevens Forest Apartments.
McConnell’s fingerprint was on plastic tape wrapped around part of a shotgun found at the scene, police said. Police also received tips that McConnell was involved in the murder and was seen with a shotgun.
He was arrested when a patrol officer spotted him in front of a relative’s house in the 9400 block of Merryrest Court in Columbia, police said.
A former Howard police officer told The Examiner on the condition of anonymity Tuesday that McConnell is a repeat criminal known as “Rock” in Oakland Mills.
Court records show McConnell has a Howard Circuit Court trial June 18 for unrelated firearm charges. He’s also pleaded guilty to drug possession, second-degree assault and concealing a deadly weapon charges, according to court records.
Detectives are investigating the nature of an ongoing dispute that likely led to the shooting, said police spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn.
But Oakland Mills residents said gang activity may be to blame and called for a meeting with police Tuesday night.
“I do hear from constituents in my district and throughout my county who have concerns about gangs. They see graffiti and groups of kids hanging around for long periods of time,” said County Councilman Calvin Ball, who represents the district including Oakland Mills.
The ex-cop said Tuesday that McConnell “had a beef” a couple years ago with members of the Long Reach Crew, a neighborhood gang responsible for robberies, assaults, narcotics dealings, graffiti and general intimidation tactics.
He said Batts and his twin brother Brandon were known LRC members.
Batts’ family denied the claim.
Apartment residents said they saw police recover two red bandanas at the homicide scene, a color associated with the Bloods and worn by LRC members, the ex-cop said.
Llewellyn said Tuesday that bandanas were not found, and denied a request to interview gang unit detectives until after the investigation is closed.
“A general trend is that governments downplay the gang issue because of the economic impact it causes on a community,” said Jeffrey Wennar, a Montgomery County assistant state’s attorney and deputy chief of the gang unit.
He added that minimizing neighborhood gangs by calling them “wannabes” is dangerous because they can affiliate with larger gangs.
According to a Howard police officer’s 2005 testimony before Congress, there were five known MS-13 gang cliques in Howard and an increase in activity with six other street gangs including Bloods.
“There is a lot of information that Bloods and Crips are doing a lot of recruitment along the East Coast,” Wennar said.
cpeirce@baltimoreexaminer.com
Comments from Examiner Readers
10:56 AM MST on Tue., Aug. 26, 2008 re: "Gang spectre rears its head in Oakland Mills Murder"
Report as inappropriate
8:49 AM MST on Wed., May. 21, 2008
re: "Gang spectre rears its head in Oakland Mills Murder"
Report as inappropriate
7:48 PM MST on Tue., May. 20, 2008
re: "Gang spectre rears its head in Oakland Mills Murder"
Report as inappropriate
7:41 PM MST on Tue., May. 20, 2008
re: "Gang spectre rears its head in Oakland Mills Murder"
Report as inappropriate
5:51 PM MST on Tue., May. 20, 2008
re: "Gang spectre rears its head in Oakland Mills Murder"
Report as inappropriate
5:41 PM MST on Tue., May. 20, 2008
re: "Gang spectre rears its head in Oakland Mills Murder"
Report as inappropriate
Examiner Reader said:
I am sorry, but Howard County police are worthless! They are taking what other "known" criminals are saying like it is the word of GOD when it comes to this case! They are taking the word of people who have proven to many that they do not like the "SUSPECT" at hand! They are not really doing their job, and for everyones information.....he is not a known criminal...he has infact gotten into trouble as all of us have at one point and time or another, but the difference between him and half these other people out here, he ahs had a hard life and and some problems come with the territory! If you really don't know the whole story and don't know the individuals involved, don't comment! Also LRC is not a GANG, come on now people... LRC is a clique and nothing more, and LRC is not necessarily Bloods they can be a lot of things, but why is it that everyone thinks they are a gang? They are far from it! Time to really do your own research and find the truth cause half that stuff is not true!
2 agree | 0 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Independent Marylander said:
Hey cry-babies...get your facts straight. The Howard County Police have sais nothing of the sort. All references to gangs have come from either the community, or the "retired" cop. No current HCPD member in good standing had made the comments you are attributing to them. Stop thinking with your emotions, and start using your brain. Don't black folk accuse whites of racism when whites stereo-type? Aren't many of you stereo-typing the HCPD and police in general. Guess that make you "Cop-ists".
1 agree | 2 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader said:
Two readers commented that the Howard County Police blame violent crime on gang activity. I don't know whether that is true, but for the sake of accuracy, this article did not quote any police officials as making that claim. The article attributed the "gang" stamp to "Oakland Mills residents". Of course, the reporter did not mention any resident by name, so we really don't know if anyone other than the reporter made the "gang" claim. I do not like unattributed quotes or paraphrases. Who knows what's true? - Ricardo L. Whitaker
1 agree | 1 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader said:
It's time for the Maryland citizenry to examine the criminal justice system and our laws more closely. It seems whenever I hear about crime in Howard County, the suspect is already known to police. It appears that we have classic cases of police hands being tied. Why are known criminals on the street? From Governor O'Malley on down to Joe Citizen, we as Marylanders must address this issue and begin to make some immediate common sense changes. Ricardo L. Whitaker Howard County, Maryland
1 agree | 1 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader said:
Everytime the Howard County Police cant find,the motive to something the use "GANG RELATED" LRC is not a gang it "was" a group from long reach not a gang JASON WAS NOT IN A GANG nor did he have gang related crimes Howard County Police will harass you for standing and talking but when there is a shooting involved they take so long to get to the crime scene, Jason was a good person,not into fighting at all,when they make comments they need to KNOW what they are talking about LRC came out in the 90's it is 2008 there is no such thing as LRC anymore,it takes people to loose their life for them to act as though the are doing something...When is it going to stop? children cant even play outside,if your goin to ask and then post comment then they need to be true.
3 agree | 2 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader said:
I live in howard county i also was a personal friend of Jason and his brother Brandon i find it very offensive that Howard County police say anything to make it look like their doing their job by saying Jason and Brandon were in a gang that is a very false statement all i can say is don't believe everything the police say.
4 agree | 2 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree