TOWSON, MD. —A memorial service to honor Baltimore County police officers who died while performing their duties will take place May 8 at 10 a.m. The service will be held in the Patriot Plaza, 401 Bosley Avenue, Towson, Maryland.
County Executive Kevin Kamenetz, Baltimore County Police Chief James W. Johnson, government dignitaries and the families of the fallen will attend the service.
Nine wreaths will be placed at the memorial by the Police Department Honor Guard. The nine are in memoriam of the fallen nine officers.
The names of officers who died and who will be remembered for their service and dedication are:
Officer Jason Schneider
On August 28, 2013, Tactical Officer Jason Schneider was shot while serving a warrant in Precinct 1/Wilkens. An investigation into an August 19 shooting on Winters Lane led detectives to a home on Roberts Avenue. Tactical Officer Schneider was shot after an exchange of gunfire with a subject inside the Roberts Avenue home. He was transferred to Shock Trauma, where he later died. Officer Schneider was 36 years old.
Lieutenant Michael Howe
Lieutenant Michael Howe died on August 11, 2008 following a massive stroke. On August 10, 2008, Lieutenant Howe was with his unit at the scene of a murder-suicide in Precinct 4/Pikesville. When Lieutenant Howe returned home after the incident, he collapsed. He was taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital where he died the next afternoon.
Sergeant Mark Parry
Sergeant Mark Parry died on January 21, 2002 from injuries sustained in a traffic crash. On December 27, 2001, while on routine patrol in Towson, Sergeant Parry’s unmarked police car was hit by a drunk driver. The driver fled the scene and was arrested a short distance later.
Officer John Stem
Officer John Stem died on October 19, 2000 of complications of paraplegia caused by a line-of-duty gunshot wound he suffered in July 1977. Officer Charles Huckeba was fatally wounded during the same incident in Precinct 1/Wilkens. Officers Stem and Huckeba and other officers were trying to subdue an agitated, armed, 19-year-old man who barricaded himself in his family’s home.
Sergeant Bruce Prothero
On February 7, 2000, Sergeant Bruce Prothero was shot and killed during an armed robbery on Reisterstown Road. Four men robbed the jewelry store where the married father of five worked part time as a security guard. Sergeant Prothero followed the armed robbers out of the store and was shot by one of the men. He died an hour later at a local hospital.
The outcome:
From The Baltimore Sun:
The final defendant to be sentenced in the killing of Baltimore County police Sgt. Bruce A. Prothero was given life without the possibility of parole yesterday by a judge who compared the crime to a “Wild West” shootout.
Wesley Moore, 25, showed no emotion as Baltimore County Circuit Judge James T. Smith Jr. sentenced him, but the victim’s widow sobbed quietly during the hearing.
“You committed an act like something out of the Wild West, and you didn’t even realize how outrageous it was,” Smith said. “That makes you a very dangerous person.”
Prothero, 35, was shot three times Feb. 7, 2000, as he chased four men out of J. Brown Jewelers on Reisterstown Road during a robbery at the store, where he was working a second job as a security guard.
After yesterday’s sentencing, Prothero’s widow, Ann Prothero, said she is trying to cope with the loss of her husband and to do her best to raise their five children.
“I have five children, and I do what I can to take care of them,” she said.
Moore declined to comment yesterday.
Prothero’s family thanked prosecutors and expressed relief that Moore’s no-parole life sentence means that all four defendants convicted in the killing will spend their lives behind bars.
Moore was convicted of felony murder April 2 based on testimony that he and his half-brother, Richard Antonio Moore, held clerks and customers at gunpoint while two accomplices smashed jewelry cases. The four men fled with more than $400,000 worth of watches, according to testimony.
Donald Antonio White Jr., 19, and Troy White, 23, both of Baltimore, each were sentenced to life without the possibility of parole last fall after they were convicted by separate juries of felony murder.
Richard Moore, 30, of Baltimore, was charged as the shooter and avoided a possible death sentence April 30 by pleading guilty to felony murder in exchange for a sentence of life without parole.
Paul DeWolfe, Wesley Moore’s lawyer, had asked Smith for a sentence that would give Moore the chance of parole.
DeWolfe said that Moore has converted to Islam in jail, considers himself a father figure to his four children and talks to them almost every day on the telephone.
He also emphasized that a few years ago, Moore participated in an eight-month Job Corps program that taught him construction skills and that he led a crime-free life from 1997 until a few weeks before the killing.
But Assistant State’s Attorney S. Ann Brobst told Smith yesterday that as a participant in the murder, Moore caused “immeasurable” pain. “The victim impact [statement] shows this murder caused a pain so immeasurable, not only in the lives of his family members, but in the community as a whole,” Brobst said…..MORE
Officer Robert Zimmerman
On November 5, 1986, Officer Robert Zimmerman was on foot patrol on Edmondson Avenue in Precinct 1/Wilkens when he was struck in traffic and critically injured. The 41-year-old officer died on November 14, 1986 as a result of his injuries.
Corporal Samuel Snyder
In August of 1983, Corporal Samuel Snyder, a thirty-year veteran of the department, was shot by a mentally ill subject while responding to a call for assistance from fellow officers in Towson. Officer Snyder died on August 23, 1983 from his wounds.
Officer Charles Huckeba
Officer Charles Huckeba was shot and killed on July 6, 1977 in Precinct 1/Wilkens as police attempted to talk an armed, drug-abusing, barricaded youth into surrendering. Officer John Stem was also injured during this incident. Officer Stem succumbed to his injuries 23 years later on October 19, 2000.
Officer Edward Kuznar
On December 9, 1969, Officer Edward Kuznar died as a result of a traffic accident. While on traffic patrol near Kingsville, Kuznar was hit head-on by a driver who crossed the center line and crashed into his police car. Both the officer and the driver were killed.
The Baltimore County Police Department Memorial consists of a carved replica of the department badge, flanked by two memorial tablets engraved with the names of those who have died in the line-of-duty since the department was established in 1874.
It bears the inscription:
In lasting memory of those officers and families who made the ultimate sacrifice.
Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.
Matthew 5:9
