Rachel Morin, a 37-year-old mother of five, was found murdered in August 2023 on a hiking on a trail near Bel Air, Maryland. That’s north of Baltimore, up near the Pennsylvania border, in Harford County, a Republican bastion that hasn’t voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964. On Saturday, the county’s Republican sheriff, Jeffrey Gahler, held a press conference at which he announced that the suspect in the case — linked by DNA evidence — had finally been arrested. And buddy let me tell you, Sheriff Gahler unloaded:
“Just before midnight [Friday] our time, police in Tulsa, Oklahoma, assisted by our federal partners, located and arrested Rachel’s murderer, Victor Antonio Martinez Hernandez. So far we have learned that the suspect . . . is a 23-year-old citizen of El Salvador who illegally crossed the border into the United States in February of 2023. We all suspect that perhaps Rachel was not his first victim, and it’s my understanding that this suspect, this monster, fled to the United States illegally after committing the brutal murder of a young woman in El Salvador a month earlier, in January of 2023. Once in our country, and likely emboldened by his anonymity, he brutally attacked a 9-year-old girl and her mother during a home invasion in March of 2023 in Los Angeles. . . .
“It has been a fear of mine that, once we identified this suspect, the result would be exactly this, and I want to now direct these comments to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and to every member in both chambers of Congress: We are 1,800 miles away — here in Harford County — we are 1,800 miles away from the southern border here in Harford County and the American citizens are not safe because of failed immigration policies.
“This is the second time in just two years that an innocent Harford County woman has lost her life to a criminal in our country illegally. Let me repeat that: Eighteen hundred miles from the southern border and this is the second woman in our county to be killed by an illegal alien. In both cases, they are suspects from El Salvador with ties to criminal gangs. Should not be happening.
“Victor Hernandez did not come here to make a better life for himself or for his family. He came here to escape a crime he committed in El Salvador. He came here and murdered Rachel and, God willing, no one else. But that should have never been allowed to happen.”
Aspiring Rapper North American euphemism for a member of the urban criminal class. This unusual occupation is usually mentioned in conjunction with the subject either being slain or being taken into custody for a violent or property-related crime. A relative of the subject usually points out that the subject’s demise or incarceration comes at an extremely inopportune moment, occurring just as the subject was “turning they(sic) life around.”
Timothy Leeks, the suspect charged with the murder of Chicago rapper King Von in early Nov. 2020 in Atlanta, was arrested in Savannah on Sept. 21 for 13 separate traffic violations, including reckless driving and fleeing police.
According to an open records request, those charges also include obstructing or hindering law enforcement officers, two charges of speeding in excess of maximum limits, failure to maintain lane, improper turn/lane change, driving on the wrong side of roadway, failure to obey traffic control devices, failure to yield while turning left, failure to stop at a stop sign, following too closely, and passing in a no-passing zone.
Officer Damascus Chambers of the Georgia State Patrol arrested Leeks at the intersection of Derenne Avenue, Abercorn Street and Waters Avenue, according to the same open records request.
Last August, prosecutors in Fulton County — you know, the same prosecutors who want to send Donald Trump to prison for racketeering? — dropped the murder charges against Leeks. Although there was no official explanation for dropping the charges, it has been widely speculated that it was because they could not disprove Leeks’ claim that he acted in self-defense. When rival rap crews get into an altercation outside a nightclub, it’s fair to assume that everybody is packing heat, which makes it difficult to prove a murder charge, because anyone you charge can claim self-defense. So “King Von” is still dead, and nobody’s going to prison for it. Meanwhile, in Savannah . . .
A Savannah rapper was taken into custody Friday night [December 8, 2023] by the FBI.
Quando Rondo, whose real name is Tyquian Terrel Bowman, was arrested after being served a warrant, the Savannah Police Department confirmed to News 3.
Arrest records list the charge as a federal custody hold.
SPD said Bowman was a passenger in a car that was pulled over around midnight on Friday.
The arrest comes nearly six months after Bowman was indicted on four felony charges, including violating the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act.
Bowman also has a previous non-violent felony conviction on his record from 2017.
Multiple defendants have been charged in a partially unsealed 14-count federal indictment alleging their involvement in a drug trafficking conspiracy in the Savannah area. The indictment follows a prior related indictment in which two individuals also are charged in a violent carjacking.
The indictment in USA v. Grant et al. alleges that the defendants conspired starting at least as early as January 2021 to possess and distribute illegal drugs including methamphetamine, cocaine, fentanyl, and marijuana, said Jill E. Steinberg, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. A conviction on the conspiracy charge carries a statutory sentence of up to 20 years in prison, along with substantial fines and penalties, followed by a period of supervised release upon completion of any prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
“As our law enforcement partners continue to identify, infiltrate and disrupt drug trafficking operations threatening the safety of our community, we remain dedicated to complementing their efforts by holding accountable those involved in these criminal enterprises,” said U.S. Attorney Steinberg.
The indictment charges all of the defendants with Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute and to Distribute Methamphetamine, Cocaine, Fentanyl, and Marijuana. Three defendants still are being sought.
Those named in the partially unsealed indictment include:
• Tremaine Grant, a/k/a “Trench,” 24, of Savannah;
• Laron Thompson, a/k/a “Hollywood,” 38, of Savannah;
• Tyquian Bowman, a/k/a “Quando Rondo,” 24, of Savannah;
• Donald Davis, a/k/a “Lil’ D,” 29, of Savannah;
• Ty’Sean Davis, a/k/a “Stro,” 21, of Savannah;
• Jarrell Palmer, a/k/a “Rel,” 36, of Pooler, Ga.
Thompson and Grant also face drug distribution charges. Grant and Palmer are charged with Conspiracy to Interfere with Commerce by Robbery, and Grant and Thompson face firearms charges.
The indictment provides notice of forfeiture of seven seized handguns and dozens of rounds of ammunition.
Two additional defendants — Robert Moss, a/k/a “Fat Boy,” 32, and Brandon McCall Williams, a/k/a “Lil’ B,” a/k/a “Dough Boy,” 32, both of Savannah — were already arraigned in connection with a partially unsealed indictment charging them in a related drug-trafficking conspiracy and alleging their involvement in a Sept. 2021 Savannah carjacking in which the victim was shot and wounded. An additional defendant is still being sought.
An argument between two women led to a gunfight that left 11 people hurt in a busy tourist area of Savannah, Georgia, late Saturday [May 18], one of five weekend shootings in the city, two of which were fatal, authorities said.
Two people were injured in separate shootings Friday. Two more shootings Saturday resulted in two deaths. Then came the gunfire just before midnight Saturday near Savannah’s Ellis Square.
The shooting broke out as two women argued in an area business, according to Police Chief Lenny Gunther, who didn’t name the establishment.
“One shot rang out. That triggered other individuals to shoot,” he said. “We had multiple individuals discharge their weapons to shoot at each other, which resulted in multiple people getting shot.”
Ten of the 11 injured were hit by gunfire. Authorities did not say what caused the 11th injury.
With all the media obsession with “gun violence,” you would think this incident might have gotten coverage nationwide, but it appears to have been treated as strictly local news, for some reason.
Court filing sheds light on Quando Rondo gang affiliation
Tyquian Bowman, otherwise known as Savannah-based rapper Quando Rondo, is facing charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of controlled substances.
The latest court filing in the case reveals U.S. attorneys are calling witnesses to testify on Bowman’s alleged gang affiliations in Savannah.
Some of the local groups mentioned in the court filing are Only the Mob, Jumpout Gang and Family Over Everything.
Federal prosecutors say Bowman had ties to two of those groups and several others.
From this time last year until now, the city of Savannah has seen about a 16 percent increase in drug-related crimes.
“Most of our gang activity has been related to drugs, not necessarily violence,” said Savannah Mayor Van Johnson.
However, there have also been 12 more homicides than this time in 2023. . . .
Johnson did acknowledge several suspects arrested in connection to the Ellis Square mass shooting last month are convicted felons, raising questions about whether any of them have gang affiliations.
The term “Florida man” has become a sort of punchline, but you probably won’t be laughing when you learn the details about this one. Before proceeding to the gruesome crimes for which Wade Wilson was recently convicted by a jury in Lee County, Florida, let me ask, what’s the first thing you notice about Wade Wilson? Before you answer that question, let’s zoom in that picture just a wee bit:
Yes, he’s got a swastika tattooed on his face, which of course had to make it into the headline in the New York Post:
Man with swastika face tattoos
found guilty of brutal strangling
of two Florida women just hours apart
A crazed Florida man with swastikas and a skeleton smile tattooed on his face has been convicted of murdering two women just hours apart — including a mom he repeatedly ran over and bragged about leaving “like spaghetti” on the road.
Wade Wilson, 30, remained motionless Wednesday as he was convicted of two counts of first-degree premeditated murder in the killings of Kristine Melton, 35, and Diane Ruiz, 43, in October 2019.
It took the Cape Coral jury just two hours to reach the verdict, which leaves him eligible for the death penalty. . . .
(To clarify, it wasn’t a “Cape Coral jury.” The trial was held in the Lee County courthouse in Fort Myers. Cape Coral is another Lee County community where Wilson committed the heinous murders.)
Wilson took Melton home from a bar on Oct. 7, 2019, then strangled her and left her tied up in her home.
(Ladies, don’t leave a bar with a guy who’s got face tattoos.)
Ruiz was reported missing the same day — and Wilson told his dad that she got into his car when he asked for directions.
(Ladies, don’t get in a car with a guy who’s got face tattoos.)
He then admitted strangling her, too, before throwing her out of the car — just to get back in and run her over “until she looked like spaghetti,” jurors were told.
“I choked her out until she couldn’t breathe anymore,” Wilson had told cops of one of the murders. “I came across my mind to murder, just kill, kill, kill.”
Look, I’m not saying that every guy with face tattoos is a homicidal maniac, but the overlap on the Venn diagram between Set A (guys with face tattoos) and Set B (guys who want to “just kill, kill, kill”) is perhaps large enough to be statistically significant. By the way, that quote in the headline? It’s from Wade Wilson’s defense lawyer:
Even one of Wilson’s own attorneys did not hold back on the tattooed maniac, who had bragged during police interviews that he “would do it again.”
“None of this was not depraved,” [attorney Lee] Hollander told Fox 4, saying the defense had only argued that the crimes were not premeditated.
“I’m not arguing insanity, I’m just arguing that state’s claimed premeditation. And I’m saying he’s whacked out, he’s just out of his mind for any of this.”
Honestly, the most surprising part of this story was that it took the jury two whole hours to vote to convict this guy. C’mon, man — he’s got a swastika tattooed on his face! Practically begging for a guilty verdict.
“I did not commit those murders and I am innocent,” he said.
Over the last year he has continued to reach out and has stuck to that claim, though he’s since shared new details.
Earlier this year [in 2020] he told FOX 4 that he used to be connected to a high-level human trafficking ring and that he would groom women for them.
He says when he tried to leave the ring last year, the group framed him for these murders as punishment.
This is known as “The QAnon Defense,” which is even less effective than the “My Client Is Whacked Out” defense. My brother has thoughts:
An excellent opportunity for me to remind you that I support capital punishment.https://t.co/g0S72rlN1S
— Sam Elliott's Mustache ?????? (@KirbyMcCain) June 14, 2024
Monkey Junction is an unincorporated area near Wilmington, North Carolina, United States, in New Hanover County at the intersection of College Road (NC 132) and Carolina Beach Road (US 421). . . .
The intersection has been known as “Monkey Junction” for almost seventy years, due to a gas station that was located there from the late 1930s through the mid-1970s. The station, run by Dina and Jack Spindle, kept live monkeys in order to attract customers from a bus that passed by on the way to and from Carolina Beach, which lies several miles south of the junction. The bus driver would stop near the station and announce “Monkey Junction.”
The area has seen phenomenal growth. In the 1970s, the population of New Hanover County — including Wilmington — was barely 80,000; it’s now nearly triple that. Now that you know the history of Monkey Junction, let’s bring you up-to-date on the current state of affairs:
Two in custody after high-speed chase and crash ending in Monkey Junction
Two people have been taken into custody after a pursuit that ended with a crash in Monkey Junction at around 12:15 p.m. on Thursday, June 13, according to the Carolina Beach Police Department.
Treyquan Levar Tilghman, 20, of Castle Hayne, and Denesha Elane McKoy, 19, of Wilmington were arrested in connection to the crash, according to a Carolina Beach Police Department spokesperson.
According to a CPD spokesperson, several people including a pedestrian were injured in the crash and taken to the hospital. They are currently in stable condition.
Treyquan Tilghman (left) and Denesha McKoy (right)
Treyquan Tilghman is a one-man crime wave and you will perhaps not be surprised to learn that the vehicle he was driving had been stolen. Although he is only 20 years old, I was able to discover at least two previous arrests for Tilghman, including a February 2023 larceny arrest in Pender County. He is a convicted felon, and this chase from Carolina Beach to Monkey Junction added numerous other charges:
Tilghman was charged with the following:
• Fleeing to elude with motor vehicle
• Possession of stolen motor vehicle
• Two counts of felony hit and run causing injury
• Reckless driving to endanger
• Speeding
• Driving while license revoked
• Failure to stop-steady red light
• Unlawful use of highways
• Improper passing on the right
• Resist, delay, and/or obstruct a public officer
• Possession of Schedule VI (marijuana)
• Possession of marijuana paraphernalia
Tilghman was also served with nine outstanding orders for arrest and warrants for arrest in incidents not in Carolina Beach with the following:
• Three counts of felony probation violation
• Fleeing to elude with motor vehicle
• Driving while license revoked
• Aggressive driving
• Break and enter to terrorize
• Misdemeanor crime of domestic violence
• Battery on an unborn child
• Larceny of a motor vehicle
They have thrown the proverbial book at him this time, and there is reason to expect that Treyquan Tilghman will spend a few years in prison before getting another chance to continue his felonious ways.
Courtney Engel, who works at J. Michael’s Philly Deli near the site of the crash, said she grew up in the Monkey Junction area. She said crimes like this are starting to become more frequent.
“It’s crazy. I grew up here and it was never like this and now it’s everywhere, all the time,” Engel said. “Now, you have to be careful anywhere you go. And it’s crazy we have to think like that, but you have to be careful anywhere you go.”
Usual weekend deadlines for the usual weekend posts.
If you haven’t signed up yet for Son of Silvercon II in Las Vegas next month, tomorrow is the pre-registration deadline. Details here. Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley et Hamas delendam sunt.
The idea that Satan has a rooting interest in baseball games has been the subject of some speculative fiction over the years, and Baltimore Orioles fans can be forgiven for suspecting that the New York Yankees are beneficiaries of infernal influence. After beating the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday, the Orioles have a 45-22 record (.672) and, if they could maintain that pace until season’s end, they’d win 109 games.
The plot of Damn Yankees involves a fan of the rival Washington Senators offering to sell his soul to beat the Yankees, and it’s probably too early in the season for Orioles fans to make such an offer, but remember: Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets.
Apparently the new Blade movies is being delayed because Disney can’t figure out how to insert a lame lesbian main character without pissing off everyone who thought they were working on a movie about a cool black dude who kills vampires by the truckload.
