Two teenagers were ordered held without bail yesterday in the death of a Randallstown High School student who was stabbed and stomped to death after his fellow Bloods gang members found messages on his phone that suggested he was gay.
Steven T. Hollis III, 18, of Randallstown and Juan L. Flythe, 17, of West Baltimore - both of whom are members of the Bloods gang, according to police - were arrested and charged Thursday evening with first-degree murder. They are accused of killing a fellow gang member days before his high school graduation in May.
The body of Steven Parrish, 18, was found May 29 in a wooded area near his parents' home and Woodlawn Cemetery.
"It's awful," Baltimore County prosecutor William B. Bickel said in an interview after yesterday's bail-review hearing in Towson. "You're talking about a gangland-style execution because he was gay. They took him out back in a field and stabbed him to death."
An autopsy revealed that Parrish died of both blunt-force and stabbing injuries, according to court records. He suffered 50 superficial cutting wounds to his arms, neck, head, wrist and hands in addition to one stab wound to the chest that injured his heart and caused significant blood loss. He also had bruises on the left side of his neck.
A neighbor told police that Parrish left his parents' home with another young man and walked toward the woods. About a minute later, the witness and other neighbors heard someone yelling and pleading, "Stop! Why are you doing this to me? I didn't do anything!" according to court documents.
Investigators discovered that the victim was a member of a subset of the Bloods gang known as the Family Swans.
On the day before Parrish's death, several members of the gang met at his home, according to charging documents. There, Hollis and Flythe discussed finding what they believed to be "gay" text messages on Parrish's cell phone.
Angered by the messages and a photograph they found, they worried that their Bloods group would appear weak to others if word got out that they had a gay member, according to court records.
"As a result, they decided that Steven Parrish 'had to go,'" police wrote in charging documents. "There was no date or time discussed for the killing, but it was made very clear to all those present that Parrish was going to be killed."
Flythe later told his fellow gang members that he and Hollis confronted Parrish, who did not deny that the messages were "gay" in nature, according to court records. Flythe also told his associates that they stabbed and hit the victim before stomping on his neck, according to charging documents. A red bandanna was placed over Parrish's face and he was left in the woods.
Michael A. Jeter, an attorney for Hollis, told a judge yesterday that his client played football at Randallstown High before dropping out in the 11th grade and is working on his GED with training in heating, ventilation and air-conditioning work.
"It looks like other people are trying to make a scapegoat out of this defendant," Jeter told Baltimore County District Judge Barbara R. Jung.
A pre-trial services worker told Jung that Flythe, who was not represented by an attorney, dropped out of Baltimore's Forest Park High School in the 10th grade and did not finish a GED program.
By Jennifer McMenamin Baltimore Sun August 19, 2008
Steven T. Hollis III, 18, of Randallstown and Juan L. Flythe, 17, of West Baltimore - both of whom are members of the Bloods gang, according to police - were arrested and charged Thursday evening with first-degree murder. They are accused of killing a fellow gang member days before his high school graduation in May.
The body of Steven Parrish, 18, was found May 29 in a wooded area near his parents' home and Woodlawn Cemetery.
"It's awful," Baltimore County prosecutor William B. Bickel said in an interview after yesterday's bail-review hearing in Towson. "You're talking about a gangland-style execution because he was gay. They took him out back in a field and stabbed him to death."
An autopsy revealed that Parrish died of both blunt-force and stabbing injuries, according to court records. He suffered 50 superficial cutting wounds to his arms, neck, head, wrist and hands in addition to one stab wound to the chest that injured his heart and caused significant blood loss. He also had bruises on the left side of his neck.
A neighbor told police that Parrish left his parents' home with another young man and walked toward the woods. About a minute later, the witness and other neighbors heard someone yelling and pleading, "Stop! Why are you doing this to me? I didn't do anything!" according to court documents.
Investigators discovered that the victim was a member of a subset of the Bloods gang known as the Family Swans.
On the day before Parrish's death, several members of the gang met at his home, according to charging documents. There, Hollis and Flythe discussed finding what they believed to be "gay" text messages on Parrish's cell phone.
Angered by the messages and a photograph they found, they worried that their Bloods group would appear weak to others if word got out that they had a gay member, according to court records.
"As a result, they decided that Steven Parrish 'had to go,'" police wrote in charging documents. "There was no date or time discussed for the killing, but it was made very clear to all those present that Parrish was going to be killed."
Flythe later told his fellow gang members that he and Hollis confronted Parrish, who did not deny that the messages were "gay" in nature, according to court records. Flythe also told his associates that they stabbed and hit the victim before stomping on his neck, according to charging documents. A red bandanna was placed over Parrish's face and he was left in the woods.
Michael A. Jeter, an attorney for Hollis, told a judge yesterday that his client played football at Randallstown High before dropping out in the 11th grade and is working on his GED with training in heating, ventilation and air-conditioning work.
"It looks like other people are trying to make a scapegoat out of this defendant," Jeter told Baltimore County District Judge Barbara R. Jung.
A pre-trial services worker told Jung that Flythe, who was not represented by an attorney, dropped out of Baltimore's Forest Park High School in the 10th grade and did not finish a GED program.
By Jennifer McMenamin Baltimore Sun August 19, 2008
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