Maryland
Woman indicted for hit and run murder of girlfriend in Md.
Incident took place on Baltimore-Washington Parkway last November
A federal grand jury in Maryland on Feb. 3 indicted a Florida woman on a charge of second- degree murder for allegedly fatally hitting her girlfriend with her car on Nov. 24, 2021, along the side of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway where U.S. Park Police later found the girlfriend’s body.
Records from the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland show that Janice Martina Mason, 28, of Melbourne, Fla., is being accused by federal prosecutors of killing Sharisse Denise Carr, 26, with her car on land “within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States.”
The Baltimore Sun reports that Mason was initially charged with murder by local authorities in Anne Arundel County where the case was brought before the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court. The Sun reports that the case against Mason in county court remains open but a spokesperson for the Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office said federal prosecutors would assume prosecution of the case soon.
The Sun reports that charging documents filed in the Circuit Court show that Park Police linked Mason to the case shortly after Carr’s body was found along the side of the parkway when Mason called police to report that her phone had been thrown out of the window of her car on the highway and she tracked it back to the police.
The court records show Park Police interviewed Mason and she told them she and Carr were girlfriends for about two months and the two got into a physical fight and she left Carr on the side of the parkway before driving away, the Sun reports. Park Police detectives, after determining there were inconsistencies in Mason’s story about what happened, called her back for another interview and informed her they observed damage on her car “consistent with striking a person,” according to the Sun’s story on the case.
Mason then changed her story by saying Carr began assaulting her while Mason was driving and the two continued to fight after Mason pulled the car over to the side of the highway, the Sun reported the Circuit Court documents as saying. Mason said Carr then got out of the car and picked up what “appeared to be a rock or a brick” and started back toward the vehicle while wielding the object, the charging documents obtained by the Sun state.
Mason told police investigators she thought her “life was in jeopardy,” the Sun says the charging documents say.
The federal grand jury indictment says Mason “did on lands within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States, with malice of aforethought, unlawfully kill Victim 1.”
The Sun reports that Mason is being held at the Anne Arundel County Detention Center in Annapolis.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on Tuesday signed a bill that decriminalizes HIV in the state.
State Dels. Kris Fair (D-Frederick County) and Luke Clippinger (D-Baltimore City) are among the lawmakers who sponsored House Bill 39 or the Carlton R. Smith Act, which is named after the long-time activist known as the “mayor” of Baltimore’s Mount Vernon neighborhood who died in May 2024.
Smith was a member of the Coalition to Decriminalize HIV in Maryland that advocated for the bill. FreeState Justice, a statewide LGBTQ rights group, was also part of the coalition.
“At FreeState Justice, we are proud to stand with advocates, health experts, and lawmakers who worked diligently to advance this bill. The bipartisan support for the Carlton R. Smith Act is a testament to the power of education, research, and courageous leadership,” said FreeState Justice Executive Director Phillip Westry in a statement. “It sends a clear message: Maryland is committed to evidence-based policymaking and to ending the criminalization of people living with HIV. We honor the memory of Carlton R. Smith by continuing the work of building a more just, inclusive, and informed society.”
Maryland is the fifth state to decriminalize HIV.
North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong, a Republican, in March signed a bill that decriminalized HIV in his state.
Maryland
A Baltimore theater educator lost jobs at Johns Hopkins and the Kennedy Center
Tavish Forsyth concluded they could not work for Trump
BY WESLEY CASE | Tavish Forsyth had come to a conclusion: They could not work for President Donald Trump.
So the 32-year-old Baltimore resident stripped down, turned on their camera, and lit their career on fire.
“F—— Donald Trump and f—— the Kennedy Center,” a naked Forsyth, an associate artistic lead at the Washington National Opera’s Opera Institute, which is run by the Kennedy Center, said in a video that went viral. The board of the nation’s leading cultural institution had elected Trump just weeks prior as its chairman after he gutted the board of members appointed by his predecessor, President Joe Biden.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
Maryland
Md. schools plan to comply with federal DEI demands
Superintendents opt for cooperation over confrontation
By LIZ BOWIE | Deciding not to pick a fight with the Trump administration, Maryland school leaders plan to sign a letter to the U.S. Department of Education that says their school districts are complying with all civil rights laws.
The two-paragraph letter could deflect a confrontation over whether the state’s public schools run diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that the Trump administration has called illegal. The Baltimore Banner reviewed the letter, which was shared by a school administrator who declined to be identified because the letter has not yet been sent.
Maryland school leaders are taking a more conciliatory approach than those in some other states. Education leaders in Minnesota, New York, Colorado, Oregon, Vermont, and Wisconsin said they will not comply with the federal education department’s order, the demands of which, they say, are based on a warped interpretation of civil rights law.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
Adams Morgan queer bar broken into and vandalized
‘Things Like This’ embraces formula and plus-size visibility
Calendar: May 23-29
Comings & Goings
New doc chronicles gay hero’s journey from rape to forgiveness
Looking back at 50 years of Pride in D.C
WorldPride events round-up
Wes Moore signs HIV decriminalization bill
Federal judge scraps trans-inclusive workplace discrimination protections
