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Two men arrested in connection with Columbia man’s death
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BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Howard police have arrested two additional suspects in the May slaying of a Columbia man in Oakland Mills Village.
Daymar Wimbish, 18, and Lamont Anthony Johnson, 24, both of Owings Mills, were charged with first-degree murder, first-degree assault and attempted armed robbery in connection with the slaying of Jason Batts, 23, Howard police said.
Batts was found shot to death about 2:50 a.m. May 17 in the parking lot of Stevens Forest Apartments.
Police arrested Ronald McConnell, 21, of no fixed address, three days after the shooting and charged him with first- and second-degree murder and assault for allegedly ordering the killing over an ongoing dispute, according to charging documents.
Detectives recovered part of a shotgun at the scene of the homicide and found McConnell’s fingerprints on plastic tape wrapped around the weapon. But Howard police said Tuesday that a witness identified Johnson as the shooter and that he approached Batts and his friends with a shotgun, saying he was going to rob them.
Cell phone records show several calls between Johnson and McConnell before and after the killing, police said. Police said they believe Wimbish was in the area at the time of the killing, and he lured Batts to the scene by calling someone who was with Batts, according to cell phone records.
Wimbish, who was arrested Thursday, is being held without bond at the Howard County Detention Center. Court records show Wimbish pleaded guilty to manslaughter as a co-defendant in January 2007 and was sentenced to about six months in prison.
Johnson is being held in Baltimore County on unrelated charges, police said. Court records show Johnson was convicted of first-degree burglary in June and sentenced to a year and a half in prison.
Batts’ death was the first homicide in Oakland Mills since 2003.
cpeirce@baltimoreexaminer.com
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9:16 AM MST on Wed., Jul. 9, 2008 re: "Lightning rod for trouble brewing in Columbia"
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Examiner Reader said:
Oakland Mills, Long Reach, Wild Lake and several other areas of Columbia have been, and continue to be, crime ridden slums because of "affordable" section 8 housing. Ulman wants more of this because he gets the support of welfare dependent voters. The non dependent voters of HC better wake-up before Columbia becomes a government dependent sewer like Baltimore City .
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Examiner Reader said:
Wow all yall are too funny going back and forth. Look it is what it is . Just face it like us in the city had to face this stupid gang trend thats claiming the lives of our youths. These kids are willing to die over a one dollar Red or Blue scarf or even kill you for the cause(which is no cause). So wake up people it's not just a inner city thing no more and keep a close eye on your kids because in a blink of a eye they'll become a gang member and you'll never know until something tragic happen. Importantly a young man was murdered and regardless of the lifestyle he lived he didn't deserve to be killed. What everyone should be focusing on is the shooter.
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Examiner Reader said:
I knew Jason Batts and this article implementing him as a gang member is untrue and very ignorant. Journalism should be based on facts and not assumptions. It is sad that someone who did not know Jason will read this and sum his life up in the idea of gang violence. It is sad and disrespectful to his friends and family. Research his life fully and you will find a very bright, caring, compassionate young man with a solid foundation at home.
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Examiner Reader said:
Is the trouble brewing or is the coffee pot already full. It is bad for the affluent still there who bought into Columbia and now see the value of their houses dropping rapidly from this and the housing market.
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Examiner please check your sources said:
I almost forgot the best part, Columbia is GOING to become like Baltimore because each time they closed on of the projects torn down in the last 5 years or so they transferred all of their public housing and section 8 tenants to Howard County that is why Howard Counties housing assistance list was frozen for the first time, because they transferred all of the people out here!! You need to get on the lawmakers that made money off that ridiculous "good idea".
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Examiner please check your sources said:
I would put money on who this "ex cop" was and I bet before volunteering these statements he didnt bother to tell you he isnt a cop anymore because he was dirty. That he caused fights and shootings and beef amoungst these youth in trying to turn them against each other for information. He was also sexually harrassing the girlfriend of one of his "targets" to bait the guy to come after him. I feel sorry for the good 1/2 of the HCPD, the ones who genuinely want to make a difference because their are so many crooked ones putting lives in danger it is sometimes hard to tell who the good guys and bad guys are.
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The Spartan said:
Let's see. According to Maryland Judicial Casesearch Jason Batts has 11 criminal incidents since turning 18 - Armed robbery, drugs, criminal poss. of a gun and assault. One can only guess how many times he was in the system before 18. He didn't deserve to die, but it looks like he should probably have been locked up for quite a long time. HoCo better crack down a bit harder before we look like a section of Baltimore.
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Columbia Resident said:
Jason Batts wasn't in a gang and it is awful that the EX-COP had to put that out there without getting the facts straight. The fact is that he was killed and no matter what his past, it was wrong. The police are relying too heavily on the residents to snitch and come forward. That is pretty scarey for most people and most won't come forward with information. There are some dark spots in Columbia which are not patroled on a regular basis. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that those are the places to do dirt. For the most part, during the day, Columbia looks pretty oradinary, we have to worry more about what happens at night, when the lights are out.
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Examiner Reader said:
I think this ex-cop is a chump also. Who ever the person is he calls people wannabe gang members and all of that, he/she could have been a wannbe cop! When Brian died in April there was a COP at the scene that didn't even respond until the shooter ran off! What's the point if you aren't even helping the community? Y'all search us and harass us call us trespassers and y'all can never prevent the real deal! So I ask MY self who's the real wannabe!
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cpeirce=hocos picture painter said:
ask some people who actually did know mr batts about charater rather then some ex cop...if this gang is so real and so violent why does everyone come to columia beacuase there aint no real gangs.dont try to justify this murder by creating a fake life for this victim talk to some body that actually does know facts
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Examiner Reader said:
I'm not a journalist but The Examiner shouldn't have printed the ex-cop's comments without confirming the facts with at least two other sources. If that was the case, then the quotes should have been attributed to 'multiple sources'. Though the fact that the vitcim has some serious past criminal charges and his mom is a CITY DETECTIVE doesn't speak to highly of the victim's character and lend credence to the ex-cop quotes. Chances are the mom worked a lot of hours and wasn't home much and suffers from "not my child" syndrome.
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Examiner Reader said:
Well, it's clear from some of the comments below, that you get the kind of community you ask for. That is, until "some" people get serious about gangs and the crimes they commit, you will have murder and mayhem. The "gansta" mentality has claimed another. Open your eyes people and keep track of what your children are up to -- stop dumping them on the rest of us, like we're some kind of day care for them.
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Examiner Reader said:
another one bites the dust
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We need help! said:
I was part of the WLC, which is the Wilde Lake Crew when I was younger, but that didn't mean that we were in a gang. We simply attended Wilde Lake High School and were quite proud of that. Jason was a hard working man, maybe not a saint, but certainly didn't deserve to be executed. He was liked by many and will be missed. My heart goes out to his twin brother and his parents. First Brian Adams and now Jason Batts, both good people, no matter what the ex-cop THINKS he knows. He should have kept the comments to himself and let's thank goodness that he is not still a police officer.
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Ricardo L. Whitaker said:
I somewhat agree with the earlier reader that called the ex-cop a "chump". I say, 'somewhat' because the real chump is the Baltimore Examiner for printing incendiary remarks without proper attribution. The bigger chumps are those who read unattributed comments and believe them simply because those comments are in print. Several major newspapers have had writers win awards for great writing. Later, of course, we discover that the very stories that won the prizes were partially or completely fabricated. Is the Baltimore Examiner following in the footsteps of the Washington Post and New York Times?
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Examiner Reader said:
Detective Batts is in denial. I feel bad for her, but she needs to examine the evidence with an objective eye. Her son was a gangbanger, or a wannabe. They are the same thing, despite what kids say.
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Examiner Reader said:
No surprise. Oakland Mills has been and continues to be a high crime area. It is the perfect example of the unintended consequences of Liberal do-gooder politics, and just one of Columbia’s growing slum neighborhoods. It will get worse.
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tieit2thebone said:
at least they knew how to shoot what they were aiming at and not hit somebodys kid
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Examiner Reader said:
Whomever this "ex-cop" is is a chump because they didn't even put there name in the article. Whether Mr. Batts was in a gang or not is irrelevant. We need to be focusing on whomever murdered Mr. Batts instead of his previous behavior.
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