A man died of multiple gunshot wounds in Annapolis yesterday afternoon, bringing to six the number of homicides in the city so far this year, city police said.
While police would not confirm his identity, neighbors and family at the scene identified the victim as Michael Lee Thompson, 31, a husband and father of two who lived on Captains Circle.
"He was a good person, a good heart," Mr. Thompson's wife, Ga'Juanah Thompson, 29, said. "They didn't have to kill him."
At 5:01 p.m. yesterday Annapolis police received a report of gunshots on Pleasant Street, which intersects with Clay Street, said Cpl. Jennifer Crews-Carey, a city police spokesman.
When the Annapolis Fire Department arrived, they found the victim dead from multiple gunshot wounds, she said. City police didn't have a suspect or a motive as of press time.
"We're still in the preliminary stages of the investigation," Cpl. Crews-Carey said.
Area residents and Mr. Thompson's family gathered last night around lines of yellow caution tape that police wrapped between the tidy homes near Pleasant Street. Many in the crowd were crying as they remembered Mr. Thompson.
He grew up in the city, attending Georgetown Elementary School and Annapolis middle and high schools, where he played basketball and football, said his father, Henry Thompson, Sr.
He left behind a 4-year-old son and a 13-year-old daughter, Mrs. Thompson said.
"His son looks just like him," she said.
According to online court records, Mr. Thompson had his own problems with the law.
Among his convictions, he was found guilty in 2004 of second-degree assault and in 1993 of using a handgun with intent to maim.
Mrs. Thompson said her husband had changed and was trying to care for his family.
"This time he was determined to come back and do what's right," Mrs. Thompson said. "Regardless of his past, he was changing for the future."
Her mother, LaTanya Dorsey, agreed.
"He was a good guy. He had his ups and downs and hardships in his life, but he was trying to do the right thing," she said.
Mrs. Thompson's cousin, Monika Willis, said the killing shows the city needs to step up and stop the violence in Annapolis.
"They need to put money into this community. This is the capital of Maryland, and they need to help the kids," she said. She added that there aren't enough opportunities for people like Mr. Thompson.
"There's no opportunity," she said. "They have to be on the street because there's no second chances."
Mayor Ellen O. Moyer said last night the Annapolis government has been trying to fight crime in the city.
"As long as there are young people with illegal drugs and guns, they feel they can settle their arguments with a final solution," she said. "We have got to get guns out of the hands of young people."
But she added that people need to make wise decisions for themselves, too.
"If you choose to put yourself in harm's way, then bad things will happen," she said.
The city has seen five other homicides this year.
Seventeen-year-old Kwame Travon Johnson, an Annapolis High School student, was shot March 16 near Tyler Avenue.
On Jan. 18, Cecelia Brown, 51, and Charles Cully, 29, were killed inside Ms. Brown's apartment.
The next month, Timothy Hayes Marsh, 48, was shot to death inside his car in the Robinwood community.
Russell Myers Lockett, 53, was hit on the head and robbed March 14 and later succumbed to his injuries.
City and county police are working together on the death of a Robinwood man. Frank Rodney Jones Jr., 38, was found dead on the side of a Davidsonville road in February. It is unclear where the homicide occurred.
The city had a record nine homicides in 2007, but this year's pace would far surpass that number.
