They go by nicknames like “J-Rock,” “Wild Out” and “Soldier.”

They even have a code name for the sawed-off shotgun they used in robberies and a murder: “Peaches.”

Inside a Howard County courtroom this week, prosecutors are shining light on the shadowy inner workings of an Owings Mills sect of the Bloods street gang, as the murder trial of Ronald Derrick McConnell, 21, continued for a third day.

McConnell is charged with the first-degree murder of Jason Batts, 23, of Long Reach, who was found shot to death May 17, 2008, in the parking lot of an Oakland Mills apartment complex.

A 16-year-old Owings Mills girl testified Thursday that she committed robberies with other gang members — and that she watched McConnell, nicknamed “J-Rock,” as he loaded a sawed-off shotgun, nicknamed “Peaches,” and set off for Columbia in the hours before Batts was killed.
 
Prosecutors are arguing that McConnell targeted a friend of Batts because he had cooperated with police in a separate case, and that Batts was mistakenly shot.

On Wednesday, the teen told jurors that she and two Owings Mills men, Lamont Johnson, 24, and Daymar Wimbish, 18, were summoned to Columbia on the day of the shooting by a fellow member of the Bloods gang to rob a man who sold drugs in Columbia.

“They was going to rob the boy who hustled around Columbia,” she said.

In a Columbia apartment that day, she watched McConnell load the gun and discuss the robbery with Johnson and Wimbish, she said.

“He (McConnell) had the gun between his legs and was putting bullets into it,” she said.

Later that night she, Wimbish and Johnson followed a car with two men and a woman in it around Columbia to an apartment complex. There, she pretended she needed to use the phone, she said, to distract the driver.

Johnson and Wimbish then approached the car, and Johnson held the gun during the robbery, she said.

“He pointed it at them and told them not to move,” she said.

Johnson panicked when one of the men moved, causing him to shoot, she said.

After the shooting, she described Johnson as being “shocked and nervous,” and Wimbish as being angry.

But under cross-examination Thursday, the 16-year-old admitted initially lying to police, making up a fake story about a dispute with the rival Crips gang at the instruction of gang leaders. Bloods leaders told her, “Put it all on J-Rock,” the girl testified Thursday.
 
The teen also said that her primary concern was cooperating with prosecutors to avoid punishment for her role in the crime, but insisted she was telling the truth.
 
During opening arguments Tuesday, before Judge Lenore Gelfman, Assistant State’s Attorney Lisa Broten described Batts as a victim of “an underworld whose inhabitants live by a different set of rules.”
 
Broten said that Batts was not the intended victim. Elijah Jackson, a Columbia man who was in the car with Batts that night and had cooperated with police in a different case against McConnell, was the intended victim, she said.

“In the words of the Bloods, this is called being a ‘snitch,’ ” Broten said. Broten noted that a piece of a shotgun recovered at the scene had McConnell’s fingerprint on it.

But McConnell’s attorney, Spencer Gordon, argued Tuesday that a botched plot to rob Jackson was hatched independently of McConnell by Johnson and Wimbish.

Wimbish’s first-degree murder trial is scheduled for May 11. Johnson’s first-degree murder trial is scheduled for Aug. 7.

Gordon acknowledged that McConnell was part of a gang and had spent some time with Wimbish and Johnson that day, but said he had nothing to do with the murder.

“Mr. McConnell is not a model citizen; he is not a saint,” Gordon said. “While gangs today are associated with violence and similar activities, it does not mean that every gang member is a cold-blooded killer.”

Shortly after opening arguments Tuesday, Juanita Jackson took the stand and testified as a witness to Batts’ shooting. She said that she, her brother Elijah Jackson, and Batts had spent time together at a Columbia bar the evening of the shooting. They headed over to the apartments on Stevens Forest Road in Oakland Mills to spend time there that night, she said.
 
Shortly after arriving, a teenage girl approached the car and engaged Elijah Jackson in conversation, she said. Shortly thereafter, two men approached the car, one of whom pointed a shotgun into the car, she said.

The man with the gun shouted, “Give it up, you know what’s happening,” she said. Shortly afterward, the gun went off twice, she said.

The trial is scheduled to last about a week. Increased police presence was observed at the courthouse before the trial. A police spokeswoman did not respond to an inquiry regarding increased security measures.

The trial is scheduled for resume Friday at 8:30 a.m.

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user comments (11)

user givemeabreak says...

“Mr. McConnell is not a model citizen; he is not a saint,' Gordon said. 'While gangs today are associated with violence and similar activities, it does not mean that every gang member is a cold-blooded killer.” True, not every gang member is a cold-blooded killer, but they are all criminals. Whether or not a particular member of the gang kills someone is irrelevant. What matters is that the gang is a criminal enterprise, and the gang members that enable and encourage these crimes are just as culpable as the shooters themselves. This guy is an animal and deserves to be locked up like an animal.

Posted 4:24 PM, 03.26.09 | Permalink

user snowflake says...

ANIMAL??? Are you serious, you know nothing about this guy! You don't know how he is with his family, with his children, he is loving, he is caring, he would give you the shirt off his back. No he is not a saint as you are not, as no one is, but he is far from a murderer. He did not pull that trigger, nor did he plan for the "robbery" as this 16 year old child claims he did, the same 16 year old girl that lied about her statement to incriminate someone who did not commit this crime. This is the same girl who is currently involved in a robbery that happened not long after the murder of Jason. Is she a saint, no, but she is a liar as she has proven, which is going to help him in this case. The simple fact that she purgered herself with her first statement because someone told her to, shows that she would and could do it again if she wanted to save her own butt or even prove a point, or get someone in trouble because they wronged her. She has proven herself to be untrustworthy and the jury will see that, the jury has seen that when she could neither confirm nor deny her involvement in the current robbery situation because she did not want to incriminate herself infront of police officers, a judge and a jury. She was given the option to not say anything from the judge that may incriminate her in her own case. And the other witness that the state has are oh so reputable...cases as long as I am tall. Come on, know your facts before you speak.

Posted 7:24 PM, 03.26.09 | Permalink

user overlord says...

If you plan a robbery where the victim is killed then you must swing for it. The victim's family and loved ones do not care about "accidents" and "mistakes". There would be nobody dead had the group not planned and carried out a robbery. Murder in the commission of a robbery (felony) is and should always be punishable by death. This state and it's loathsome Gov are preoccupied with abolishing the death penalty. Seems like O'Malley, the sanctimonious, holier then thou phony he is has forgotten about the living. Oh to dream of a day when he is just like us which means no State Police bodyguards and escorts. Then let that coward venture out into the streets and have him run into some Bloods or Crips who just like to see people in fear. In the meantime keep voting for Democrats so you can carve babies out of wombs and sleep well knowing that murderers are watching the same color TV program you are. Yes keep it up Columbia and see color and splendour of blood and guts via Baltimore City's time tested government.

Posted 8:25 PM, 03.26.09 | Permalink

user spartan79 says...

Snowflake makes the point that the we don't know this guy. That's true, most of us don't hang around criminals. And I know he's a criminal because when you check Maryland Judiciary Case Search and look up McConnell's record you find that he has multiple convictions/charges for assaults, robberies, weapons violations, car thefts and now murder. I agree with givemeabreak...lock him up in the deepest hole they can find and throw away the key.

Posted 1:39 AM, 03.27.09 | Permalink

user snowflake says...

You can look something up on case search all you want, but also again, you know nothing about this guy, why he has those charges, what happened that he received those convictions. You don't know if this person was at the wrong place at the wrong time or if he actually committed these crimes. I know one thing, he is not a SNITCH and that says a lot for him with all these rats out here. Just a by the way, he did not commit the murder, and there is proof of that FACT! Just wait and you will hear about it as the case proceeds. He is not a bad person, he has made poor choices maybe, but far from a bad person. And he is def. not a murderer!

Posted 8:24 AM, 03.27.09 | Permalink

user citizentaxpayerjane says...

whoa, whoa, whoa. Snitch? That is the best you can say, is that he doesn't report violence to the authorities. Sounds disconnected from mainstream society that doesn't endorse or ignore unlawful behavior. Not doing him any favors with that kind of talk. Real courage comes from 'snitching'.

Posted 9:09 AM, 03.27.09 | Permalink

user givemeabreak says...

Yes, he is an animal snowflake. No worries though, by the looks of his rap sheet, he has had a long criminal career that has allowed him to meet other criminals. He will probably be reunited with them in jail. It will be one big criminal reunion!!! Then you can go visit them all and listen to them talk about "being in the wrong place at the wrong time." "No he is not a saint as you are not." Never said I was, but I am certainly not being charged with murder. I would say this gives me a leg up on ol' "J-Rock." "She has proven herself to be untrustworthy and the jury will see that." Maybe. One thing, however, that the jury will definitely see is that "J-Rock's" fingerprint was on the shotgun shells found at the scene. Does this mean that his fingers were at the wrong place, wrong time? "She was given the option to not say anything from the judge that may incriminate her in her own case." Wrong. She was given the right not to incriminate herself by the US Constitution. Maybe you need to "know your facts before you speak." Lastly, I know this isn't English class, but when people use legal terminology I can't resist. A witness wouldn't have "purgered" themselves, they would have perjured themselves.

Posted 11:22 AM, 03.27.09 | Permalink

user maggie says...

Snowflake, you are delusional. All gang members need to be rounded up and put away. Howard County used to be a nice place to live, darn public housing & Section 8. I moved out of DC to get away from people like this. I hope they all get the maximum sentence.

Posted 11:25 AM, 03.27.09 | Permalink

user says...

It is interesting to see 'Snowflake' espousing his/her uneducated opinions on this case - attempting to claim the defendant’s innocence - while slandering a witness. Snowflake - you are either the defendant’s mother or a very close relative, or you are an associate of the bloods gang - attempting to sway public opinion. As gang members are either ignorant or idiots - I do not believe that any of them would be smart enough to move beyond rudimentary intimidation tactics - and begin posting comments to articles such as this. So I must conclude that you are a very close family member. I do sympathize with your plight - as I would do anything I could to lessen the punishment - if it were my relative who was an accomplice in a cold blooded murder. It is a good try - but you know in your heart that this guy is just as guilty as the shooter. Feel free to respond - claiming that nothing I have said is correct. I would expect nothing less. Think About It!

Posted 3:08 PM, 03.27.09 | Permalink

user bojangles says...

You all are right, MD should abolish the death penalty. Instead Mr. McConnell deserves a more fitting punishment where he can give back to society...Being turned over IIHS once convicted (INSURANCE INSTITUTE OF HIGHWAY SAFETY) and rammed into a brick wall at 200MPH like crash dummies...that will knock some sense into him and all others who aspire to follow in his shoes!

Posted 10:14 PM, 03.29.09 | Permalink

user betterqualityoflife says...

Well I would like to express my opinion....I lived in the area where the crime occurred...None of the people involved lived there. How do you think it feels to wake up in the wee hours of the night to a gunshot, not knowing if that was any of you family members. And yes I have family members in several villages of Columbia. The truth of the matter is no one should have to endure such a unfortunate event. I have seen four of the young men that were involved on both ends grow up.I never expected the blame to be put on Gangs. Howard County just want the habitants of Columbia think that its gang related. I doubt it that gang members were the ones who robbed me at gun point as I walked to my car in a heavily lite neighbor hood( I am a Female) they took over a hour to come to the scene, and still I havent been contacted. At any given time you can see the officers parading up and down the street looking for someone to harass. But when a neighbor hood needs them where are they. Not at all am I condoning this type of behavior in no way shape and fashion. Gang activity is not the issue its only a rising problem and nuisance. Every murder in Columbia is not gang related. I wish Howard County keep there focus solving the case. I would love for justice to be served for the Batts family, it Howard County don't F it up. And justice for all familys that have been victims of violence.

Posted 7:26 PM, 03.30.09 | Permalink