Homicide victim had spoken up about robbery
the 1200 block of Riverside Ave., where officers found Moriconi with a single gunshot wound to his upper body. He was taken to a hospital, where he died from his injuries.
Police said Friday morning they believed Moriconi might have died during a robbery, but police spokesman T.J. Smith later backed away from the theory, saying detectives continue to investigate. Smith said investigators do not have any information about suspects but said detectives are collecting surveillance video from residents in the neighborhood. The department is increasing the police presence in the area, he said.
Family for Moriconi did not respond to requests for comment Friday.
Moriconi worked as a contracts representative at Northrop Grumman, a company spokesman confirmed. His Facebook page said he studied business at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond and attended Fishburne Military School in Waynesboro, Va.
He described the attempted robbery last August on the Federal Hill Neighborhood Association Facebook page. He said his decision to chase the men was “probably a bad decision,” but added, “I couldn’t let them get away with it.”
The shooting devastated friends and Moriconi Baltimore homicide investigators work in the neighborhood after Thursday evening’s fatal shooting of Timothy Moriconi. unsettled neighbors who came together Friday evening for a candlelight vigil. Dozens of people huddled on the block where Moriconi was gunned down and traded stories and held each other as a police helicopter circled overhead.
Many neighbors didn’t know him, or only in passing, and came to show support for his friends and family and perhaps soothe some of their shock.
But a large group of friends said they were crushed at the loss of a good friend and a good person. They hung out regularly at One Star Country Club, a bar on Cross Street. Moriconi was the type to introduce himself and immediately make people feel like they belonged.
“He was such a kind-hearted person, and would have done anything for you,” Nicole Holtz, a friend and neighbor, said through tears. “It wasn’t even late. He was just walking home. He was just steps from his house.” Other residents were equally disturbed. Melva Turner, 71, who lives near where the shooting occurred, said she heard one gunshot, went to her door and saw a light-colored car speeding away. She said the victim was lying near a tree on the sidewalk, but she did not recognize him. “He must have just been walking down the street,” she said. “I just feel so sorry for that guy. Nobody deserves to go like that. It’s sad.”
Turner said the shooting and other recent incidents near her home, including her car being broken into, have made her feel unsafe for the first time in the neighborhood she’s lived in all her life.
She doesn’t want to sit and hand out candy this year for Halloween — normally a busy event on her street, with many trick-or-treaters. “I’m afraid to sit out here now,” she said from her front steps.
Turner said she’d like to see more police officers in the neighborhood.
“The way crime is now, we need police officers walking the beat,” she said.
While homicides in the Riverside and nearby Locust Point neighborhoods are rare compared to other parts of the city that regularly see violence, they are not unheard of.
In November, Alexander Wroblewski, 41, of Locust Point was killed resisting a robbery on his way home from the Royal Farms store on Key Highway. In 2010, a man was killed by acquaintances in the base- ment of a home.
Despite a week without a fatal shooting earlier in the month, there have now been 29 homicides in Baltimore in September. A male was killed Friday in the 1200 block of Druid Hill Avenue, near Dolphin Street in Upton.
The Riverside shooting was Thursday’s third killing. A man was fatally shot just after midnight in Pigtown, and another man was killed before 11 a.m. in the 5100 block of Govane Ave. Police on Friday identified those victims as Kedric Moore, 26, and Jonathan Greenidge, 26, respectively.
They also identified three other men killed in shootings earlier this week:
Anthony Raynor, 34, was killed on Sept. 25 in the 5100 block of Curtis Ave.
Justin Williams-Harrison, 29, was killed Sept. 26 in the 200 block of S. Catherine St.
Leon Burgess, 33, was killed Sept. 26 in the 1300 block of Stonewood Road.
City Councilman Eric Costello, who represents Riverside and went out to the crime scene Thursday night, said he’s heard from many residents who have expressed frustration about crime in the city.
“Residents are angry and frustrated and scared, and they’re sick of hearing the same excuses. I am in the same boat with them,” he said.
Costello said there needs to be more of a police presence in city neighborhoods. “We don’t have the resources that we need,” he said.
The city council regularly holds hourslong hearings about the shortage of police, but “residents are sick of hearing why we don’t have those resources.”
“We’re all frustrated, we’re all angry. We’re scared,” Costello said.
“We’re tired. We continue to get excuses for why we don’t have the police coverage.”
Anyone with information on the recent homicides is asked to call detectives at 410-396-2100 or Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7Lockup. Tips can also be texted to 443-902-4824.