Diversity is Strength: It’s also an Immigrant Allegedly Killing an Off-Duty Baltimore Detective over a Parking Space

With an appended, October 24 update.

 


 

By Nicholas Stix

On Saturday night, 25-year-old Sian James allegedly murdered off-duty Baltimore City* Det. Brian Stevenson, by throwing a chunk of concrete at Det. Stevenson, and hitting him in the temple, after Stevenson parked in a parking spot that James apparently laid claim to.

 
Det. Brian Stevenson, BCPD photo.
 

Det. Stevenson was in Baltimore City's busy restaurant and club district of Canton with a friend to celebrate his 38th birthday, which was only hours away. The 18-year BCPD veteran leaves behind a wife and three children.
 

Sian James' mug shot, probably from his July arrest.
 

Sian James is being held without bond, charged with First Degree Murder. He was already out on $150,000 bond, charged with attempted rape and other sex crimes, for an alleged attack on his ex-girlfriend in July. James was found in a nearby club, partying with a date, a few hours after the incident.

James is a Jamaican immigrant.


*Baltimore is the name both of a city in Maryland, and the county in which the city is situated. Although outsiders (or those writing for outsiders, e.g., H.L. Mencken) refer to the city simply as "Baltimore," locals refer to it as "Baltimore City," as opposed to "Baltimore County."

October 24 update: Det. Stevenson's funeral is being held on Monday, October 25, “at 10 a.m. at New Antioch Baptist Church, 5609 Old Court Road, Baltimore. Burial will follow at Arbutus Memorial Park.”