Police charge teens with armed robbery

Youths arrested in robbery of police deputy commissioner face charges for other crimes

Police have charged two 16year-old youths in connection with last week’s armed robbery of a deputy police commissioner and his wife, a Baltimore Police spokesman confirmed Friday.

Deputy Commissioner Daniel Murphy and his wife were robbed at gunpoint near Patterson Park around 9 p.m. July 19, police said.

Kahree Fowlkes, of the 5100 block of Terrance Drive in Nottingham, and Kamal Godwin, of the 1400 block of N. Central Ave., were arrested Thursday and charged as adults with armed robbery and related charges, according to police and court records. Court records show the two teens are accused of participating in other crimes within days before and after the Murphys were robbed.

Both teens also have been charged as adults with an armed carjacking that occurred Saturday, July 20 one day after the incident with Murphy and his wife, court records show.

Godwin also is charged with unlawful taking of a vehicle, armed robbery and assault in connection with an alleged incident that occurred on Thursday, court records show.

Fowlkes and Godwin are currently at the Baltimore Central Booking and Intake Center and have been denied bail. Neither teen had an attorney listed in court records.

A man answering the telephone at Fowlkes’ home said the family knew about the charges but Kahree’s mother doesn’t not want to comment. Relatives for Godwin could not be reached for comment.

Police said the incident involving Murphy and his wife happened in the 2200 block of E. Pratt St. where the couple was approached by four men in a white SUV. Two young men got out of the SUV and approached the couple, police said. The men announced it was a robbery and showed a gun before fleeing with a wallet, a purse, some cash and multiple cellphones, police said.

Neither Murphy or his wife was injured.

Murphy came to Baltimore earlier this year from the New Orleans Police Department, where he worked under Superintendent Michael Harrison. Shortly after Harrison became Baltimore’s top cop, Harrison hired Murphy to serve as a deputy commissioner to oversee consent decree compliance. Murphy, a civilian in the department, does not carry a badge or a gun.

Murphy said at the quarterly consent decree hearing Thursday that the incident has not discouraged him.

“It was certainly a difficult incident, but I’m committed to the work ahead. We’re here because there’s tremendous need for change in this city, and we’re here to transform this police department,” he said on Thursday.