Justin Fenton
Verified
Investigative reporter at the @BaltimoreBanner. Author of WE OWN THIS CITY, which became HBO miniseries. Support local news
Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Justin Fenton
Ex-Baltimore school board member racked up contracts, connections before FBI search
Clad in a tuxedo, Mujahid Muhammad looked out at a crowd of Baltimore luminaries at his nonprofit’s gala and thanked them. “We are building something. We’re not sure what it is. We’re not sure where we can go with it,” Muhammad said at KEYS Empowers’ 2016 event, according to a video the nonprofit posted on YouTube. “But my drive is the same drive I had playing ball: I’m gonna win. I’m not gonna lose.
Former Anne Arundel sheriff teams up with an ex-drug dealer for tell-all book
Billy Joe Nichols. The name alone made the hair on Ron Bateman’s neck stand up. The same Billy Joe Nichols he’d sent to prison decades ago as an undercover drug cop? The hulking former boxer who put fear in those who crossed him? What did he want now, after all these years? Nichols, it turned out, wanted to write a book about the case with Bateman, who had gone on to become Anne Arundel County’s sheriff.
Mastermind behind botched murder-for-hire gets 40 years in prison for educator’s killing
The decade-long investigation of a murder-for-hire gone wrong that killed a Baltimore teacher’s aideended Thursday with the man who orchestrated the deathsentenced to decades in prison. U.S. District Court Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher sentenced Matthew Hightower, to 40 years in prison for the May 27, 2016 fatal shooting of Latrina Ashburne, 41, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. “Witness intimidation strikes at the heart of our justice system,” Maryland U.S. Attorney Kelly Hayes said in a statement.
Suspect in 12-year-old girl’s killing was released from prison days before shooting
Tyree Reynolds, the man accused of fatally shooting 12-year-old Khloe Ishway at a homecoming football game last week, was previously convicted of assault in connection to a 2021 shooting and was released early. In 2021, a judge sentenced Reynolds to 15 years behind bars after he was charged with first-degree assault for his role in a shootout, according to the state attorney’s office. He was also charged with possession of a handgun.
FBI searches site of Baltimore school commissioner’s nonprofit
FBI agents on Wednesday searched a building where Baltimore City Schools Commissioner Mujahid Muhammad operates a nonprofit mental health organization, according to the FBI’s Baltimore press office. Muhammad is the executive director of KEYS Empowers, located in the brick office building at 7501 Liberty Road, federal tax forms for the nonprofit say.
Suspended Baltimore Police deputy commissioner resigns amid misconduct probe, council member says
The Baltimore Police deputy commissioner overseeing integrity and discipline who himself was suspended this month amid a review of a misconduct allegation has resigned, a City Council member confirmed. Deputy Commissioner Brian Nadeau had been suspended since Sept. 15. Police officials had declined to characterize the nature of a complaint against him other than to say it did not arise from his work overseeing investigations, discipline or any cases.
‘Most wanted’ suspect’s suicide stokes tension between Bates and police
Baltimore State’s Attorney Ivan Bates is criticizing city police for their decision to publicize the search for a teen murder suspect who then died by suicide, saying police went against his office’s guidance and may have contributed to the teen’s decision to take his life. But police and Mayor Brandon Scott are pushing back, saying they were following protocols in a high-profile case involving an elusive suspect.
Prisoner stabbed to death in Hagerstown after months without an inmate killing
A prisoner was fatally stabbed at the Maryland Correctional Training Center in Hagerstown, the first inmate killed since May after a spate of deaths at the start of the year. The inmate, who was not immediately identified pending notification of his next of kin, was found with apparent stab wounds in his housing unit at the Maryland Correctional Training Center in Hagerstown on Monday night, state police said. The man was declared dead by emergency medical personnel at the prison, police said.
Police believe Baltimore mass shooting related to gang dispute, sources say
Investigators believe the mass shooting in East Baltimore Wednesday night is connected to an ongoing gang dispute, law enforcement sources told The Banner. The sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly about the ongoing investigation, said about 40 gunshots were fired in the shooting that left seven people, including a 3-year-old boy and 16-year-old girl, wounded. The other five wounded ranged in age from 18 to 43. They have been released from hospitals.
Catonsville man charged in ‘colossal’ federal cocaine bust
Not long after receiving word last fall about a “well-known large-scale” supplier of cocaine and other drugs, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents tracked a pickup truck as it left a West Baltimore warehouse and rolled through Western Maryland.
Baltimore deputy police commissioner suspended
The Baltimore Police Department’s deputy commissioner overseeing internal affairs and officer discipline has been suspended. Deputy Police Commissioner Brian Nadeau was placed on suspension, the department’s chief spokeswoman, Lindsey Eldridge, confirmed. She said the department was “aware of an investigation involving allegations made in reference to a member of our command staff.” She did not divulge the nature of the allegations.
ICE agents clashed violently with Frederick. Where does the city go from here?
The text message went out to the clergy community of Frederick on Sept. 4: There was trouble in Taskers Chance. It was a moment they had trained for, afterthe Rev. Chance Martinez-Colon of Grace United Church of Christ took a team to Minneapolis. There, theyhadwitnessed how residents confronted an immigration enforcement surge thatsparked protests and violent clashes. Now it was happening at home.
A Maryland man helped the feds crack down on a drug cartel. Marco Rubio still wanted him deported.
After an immigrant man living in Maryland cooperated with law enforcement officials in their investigation of a drug cartel, an immigration judge ruled he should not be deported to Mexico, finding that he risked likely torture or death if he were sent there. Yet last month, he was.
Baltimore cop charged with raping crime victim he drove home in Harford County
A Baltimore Police officer has been charged in Harford County with raping a woman involved in a domestic violence incident whom he had driven home, officials confirmed. Officer Daniel Oxendine was taken into custody Thursday without incident following an investigation by the Harford County Sheriff’s Office, said Cristie Hopkins, a department spokesperson.
Mayor Scott is using ‘aggressive’ legal tactics in his IG dispute. Here’s why.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott is escalating his dispute with Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming by asking a state appellate court to intervene rather than comply with a judge’s order to release recordsshe seeks for investigations. At the same time, the Scott administration released documents in which they suggest Cumming has been abusing her access to city records. The documents shed some light on the motivations behind the administration’s hard-charging approach to the case.
City Hall has an Agora expert: The ethics director worked at the publishing giant for 20 years
Among those who work with him at City Hall, Baltimore ethics director J. Christoph Amberger is considered a meticulous researcher with a dry wit. A German-born renaissance man, he’s a competitive fencerand an author who became a lawyer late in life. But few seem to know how the 62-year-old spent the first half of his career: as a bombastic personality dispensing financial advice and hot takes on politics for Agora Companies, a Mount Vernon-based global internet marketing and supplements company.
Baltimore state’s attorney taps former federal corruption prosecutor for witness leak investigation
The Baltimore state’s attorney’s office has tapped a former federal corruption prosecutor to investigate the leak of witness information in a high-profile murder case. The Baltimore City Circuit Court clerk’s office posted images on Facebook on Aug. 19 of Christine Goo being sworn in as a new assistant state’s attorney, something it does regularly, and commended her for “this incredible career achievement.” But Goo is not a routine new hire.
Man charged in Inner Harbor fatal drowning was ‘Good Samaritan,’ attorney says
The 36-year-old Parkville man charged with second-degree murder for shoving a man into the Inner Harbor where he died had intervened as a “Good Samaritan,” a defense attorney said Tuesday. James Fitzsimmons, a bartender at the Keystone Korner jazz club who was headed into work at the time, “should’ve minded his business, instead of being a Good Samaritan,” assistant public defender Klara Kim said at a bail review hearing.
Parkville man charged with murder for shoving man into Inner Harbor
A 36-year-old Parkville man has been charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter for allegedly shoving a man into the Inner Harbor, where the victim drowned. Police wrote in charging documents that surveillance cameras captured James Fitzsimmons fighting with James Jackson Britt, 37, in the 700 block of South Eden Street, behind the Whole Foods in Harbor East, around 3 p.m. Sunday, and pursuing Britt to the waterâs edge and shoving him.
Judge throws out most charges in state Sen. Dalya Attar criminal case
A federal judge threw out most counts, including those of extortion, in the criminal case against state Sen. Dalya Attar and two co-defendants on Friday. U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher dismissed the counts in an order Friday afternoon. âAlthough this Court does not condone the conduct alleged in the indictment, because [federal law] does not criminalize it, this Court must dismissâ the extortion counts, Gallagher wrote.
Baltimore prosecutors investigate witness leak as defense attorneys deny involvement
Baltimore prosecutors said they are investigating the leak of documents outlining a witness’s cooperation in a high-profile murder-for-hire case, as defense attorneys denied they had provided materials to anyone outside the case.
Prosecutors scramble after Baltimore rapper’s name leaked as cooperator in murder-for-hire case
City prosecutors are seeking emergency court action after documents revealing the identity of a critical witness in a high-profile trial of two accused hit men surfaced on the internet and went viral. Under a judge’s order, no one outside the case was supposed to know — or at least be able to prove on paper — that Keith Ambush, a once-rising local rapper also known as YNE Sosa, was cooperating before he was expected to testify in the trial of Keith Brian Russell and Cornell Moore.
Maryland prisons rank among nation’s worst for killings
Prisoners are more likely to be killed in Maryland than in nearly any other state, with a homicide rate last year that was nearly four times the national average, based on available data gathered by The Banner. Since 2023, 32 incarcerated people in state-runcorrectional facilitieshave been killed. That’s more than all ofMaryland’s neighboring states combined.
Warden out, 19 officers face discipline after Maryland’s seventh prison killing this year
State police and corrections officials are conducting a “potential criminal misconduct” investigation into staff at a Western Maryland prison after the latest in a rash of killings of prisoners across the state. The case is focused on the May 20 discovery of the body of Colin Wolf, 32, inside his cell in the Roxbury Correctional Institution in Hagerstown, officials said. Corrections officers are required to conduct prisoner counts three times a day and perform rounds every 30 minutes.
Sabrina Tapp-Harper wins Baltimore sheriff race as Sam Cogen concedes
Baltimore Sheriff Sam Cogen conceded the race to maintain his job Thursday, cementing an upset victory for Sabrina Tapp-Harper that was all but assured on primary election day.
Baltimore Sheriff challenger Sabrina Tapp-Harper celebrates apparent victory over Sam Cogen
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott joined sheriff candidate Sabrina Tapp-Harper late Tuesday at her election night watch party as supporters celebrated her apparent victory. âNow the work begins,â Tapp-Harper said. âIt is time to unite behind our common purpose: making Baltimore safer, stronger and more for everyone.â Tapp-Harper would become the first female sheriff in Baltimoreâs history if her lead over first-term incumbent Sam Cogen holds.
Man cleared in 2010 Phylicia Barnes killing gets 2 life terms in rape case
Michael Maurice Johnson, who was convicted and later cleared in the high-profile 2010 killing of 16-year-old Phylicia Barnes, was sentenced Monday to two consecutive life terms plus 25 years for raping a young woman. The victim and her family, along with Barnesâ family members and law enforcement officials who handled that case, filled rows of the courtroom as Baltimore County Circuit Judge Jan Alexander handed down the sentence. Johnson, 42, showed no apparent reaction.
Dali engineer appears in court on felony charge; prosecution deferred
Perhaps the only individual who may see the inside of a courtroom for the Francis Scott Key Bridge disaster appeared in court, where federal prosecutors said Thursday they would not pursue a conviction if he complies with certain terms.
‘Enough is enough’: Dali crew members ask court to return home
The owner and operator of the container ship that crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge is demanding that its crew members be allowed to leave after more than two years “marooned” in the United States.
Dali’s chief engineer latest to face criminal charges in Key Bridge disaster
Federal prosecutors have filed additional criminal charges in the Francis Scott Key Bridge disaster, adding for the first time a crew member who was aboard the Dali container ship at the time of the crash. However, the crew member and the federal government have agreed to defer his prosecution. That means his case will be put on pause, at least for the time being.
Baltimore cop kept his badge 11 years after talking to FBI source about drug dealing
In August 2014, a confidential FBI source met Alexi Correa at a barand heard a shocking storyfrom the Baltimore Police officer. Correa talked about his own involvement in selling cocaine, offered to launder the sourceâs money and gave tips on how to carry a gun without getting caught, according to a summary of the recorded conversation obtained by The Banner.
Specialized police unit in South Baltimore temporarily disbanded amid internal probe
A Baltimore Police operations squad that roams neighborhoods in South Baltimore looking for crime has been out of commission for months amid concerns about a lack of supervision, officials said. The Southern police station’s district action team was “temporarily deactivated” in late March “due to staffing and supervisory changes within the unit,” department spokesperson Lindsey Eldridge said in an emailed statement.
In Baltimore sheriff’s race, a battle at the ballots — and in court
As they crisscross Baltimore ahead of the June primary election, Sheriff Sam Cogen and challenger Sabrina Tapp-Harper have been raising money, knocking on doors and giving their stump speeches. They also recently sat for depositions in the workplace discrimination lawsuit she filed against him. For years, Cogen and Tapp-Harper worked side by side as commanders in the Baltimore sheriff’s department.
Police can no longer stop to search based on sole suspicion of a gun, appeals court rules
Police in Maryland can no longer stop and search someone solely based on their suspicion that the person is carrying a gun, the state’s full appeals court ruled in a sweeping opinion that some law enforcement agencies worry could curtail police practices statewide. The ruling Thursday by the Appellate Court of Maryland was prompted by a case involving Baltimore Police officers who stopped a man only because they believed he had a gun.
San Francisco Police sought to arrest Baltimore Police officers in sexual assault probe
San Francisco Police sought to arrest two Baltimore Police officers for allegedly raping a woman while she said she was unconscious, new records show. The documents shed new light on a case in which a woman alleged she became intoxicated during a night out with the officers. The next day, she told authorities, she learned she had had sex, which she said she could not have consented to given her intoxication.
Can an Indian man and a Singaporean company really face American justice?
Scant remnants of the Francis Scott Key Bridge provided a dramatic backdrop as federal prosecutors announced a development two years in the making: The operator of the ship that knocked down Baltimore’s bridge, killing six construction workers, faces criminal charges. But securing an indictment is one thing. Handcuffing an employee half a world away and trying to extract potential financial penalties from a foreign corporation is another.
Maryland settled Key Bridge case against Dali companies for $2.25 billion
The companies that own and operate the container ship that destroyed the Key Bridge will pay $2.25 billion to settle with Maryland ahead of an upcoming trial in federal court. Details of the agreement became public Tuesday, hours after federal authorities announced criminal charges against Synergy Marine Group, the Singaporean operator of the container ship Dali. The Maryland Attorney General’s Office first announced the deal in April, describing it as a settlement in principle.
Federal prosecutors charge ship operator, employee in Key Bridge collapse
More than two years after a container ship destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge, federal prosecutors brought criminal charges against the ship’s Singaporean operator and an employee, accusing them in an indictment unsealed Tuesday of conspiracy, obstruction and misconduct resulting in death.
How Maryland special agents started investigating the Attar sextortion case
It was just after 9:30 a.m., July 19, 2022 â primary election day â and Joseph âJayâ Attar was at the Fallstaff Elementary polling place when authorities served their warrant. They wanted Attar, the brother of then-Del. Dalya Attar, to hand over his Samsung cellphone. âWhatâs this about?â Jay Attar asked. The agents, with the Office of the State Prosecutor, said they would answer his questions after they completed some paperwork.
4 Baltimore Police officers will not face charges after San Francisco investigation
San Francisco prosecutors declined to bring charges against four Baltimore Police officers who have been under investigation in the California cityafter a woman says she reported a sexual assault that took place there. The officers, including the commander of the Eastern District, have been suspended with pay and assigned to administrative duties by the Baltimore Police Department since November of last year while the Special Victims Unit of the San Francisco Police Department investigated.
Stripe data now available on Databricks via Databricks Marketplace
Analyze payment and business data directly in your Databricks workspace with Delta Sharing for AI-native analysis - no ETL required. by Justin Fenton, Harish Gaur and Matt Napoli Activate Stripe Data Pipeline with Delta Sharing in minutes, instantly enabling AI applications. Share Stripe payment and business data directly into Unity Catalog, creating a single source of truth for all AI and analytics initiatives.
Former McDonogh teacher, Living Classrooms founder accused of abuse in lawsuit
A former student at McDonogh School is alleging in a new lawsuit that a faculty member sexually abused her, which she says she reported to the school nearly 40 years ago. The woman filed the lawsuit on Friday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore against the school and G. Dennis O’Brien According to the lawsuit, O’Brien, who helped found Living Classrooms in 1985, started off by making sexual comments and engaging in inappropriate conduct before his behavior escalated to physical abuse.
Man cleared in 2010 Phylicia Barnes killing convicted of rape and assault in new case
Michael Maurice Johnson — who was cleared in the high-profile 2010 killing of 16-year-old Phylicia Barnes — was convicted Friday of raping and assaulting a woman in Baltimore County. After nearly four hours of deliberations, the jury delivered the verdict, which also acquitted Johnson of first-degree attempted murder. Johnson, 42, was charged two years ago in Baltimore County with attacking a then-19-year-old woman he had been romantically involved with.
Baltimore state’s attorney reported $1.8M in outside income last year
Baltimore State’s Attorney Ivan Bates reported $1.8 million in outside income last year as matters from his time as a private defense attorney were resolved and he sold two properties. The details came in Bates’ annual financial disclosure to the State Ethics Commission due at the end of April.
Ahead of Key Bridge civil trial, employee of Dali operator worries about looming criminal charges
As a high-stakes civil trial nears in the Key Bridge disaster, at least one employee of the Dali cargo ship’s operating company has raised concerns about potential criminal charges. Karthik Nair, a technical superintendent for Synergy Marine Group, did not want his deposition in the civil case to be made public because “if he is indicted, then publicity that he personally ‘took the Fifth’” would be prejudicial, his attorneys wrote in a motion originally made under seal.
Man convicted, then cleared of killing Phylicia Barnes on trial in new attack
She was an 18-year-old living in foster care, waiting on Fulton Avenue in West Baltimore for a Lyft one day in 2023 when a man pulled up in a Tesla. He wasnât her ride. He was twice her age. But they hit it off, exchanged numbers and began going on dates and staying together. A year later, she testified Tuesday, she kicked him out of her apartment after an argument and he returned, choking and raping her until she lost consciousness.
Husband charged with murder of Baltimore County woman missing since 2002
The husband of a woman who went missing in July 2002 in Baltimore County and was never found is charged in connection with her murder, according to court documents. The man, Dwight David Rust Jr., 48, was arrested Monday and charged with the first-degree murder of his late wife, Michelle Rust, charging documents said. She was 24 when she disappeared.
Bridging Data Science and Marketing: Adobe and Databricks Launch Delta Sharing for Adobe Experience Platform and Agentic Marketing Workflows
In today’s hyper-competitive landscape, "speed to insight" is no longer the finish line. The new gold standard is speed to activation. For years, a massive gap has separated where customer intelligence is managed and where marketing is executed. Data teams build sophisticated models and metrics in the Lakehouse, from propensity scoring to Customer Lifetime Value (CLV).
Judge: Baltimore has ‘cut off, foreclosed, shut down’ inspector general’s powers
Baltimore’s law department has “cut off, foreclosed, shut down” Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming’s ability to investigate waste, fraud and abuse, the judge overseeing a dispute over her access to records said Friday. Retired Baltimore Circuit Associate Judge Pamela J. White stopped short of ruling at the hearing but appeared to signal her view of the city’s arguments, saying they were minimizing the authority of the Office of the Inspector General under the city’s charter.
Judge: Baltimore has ‘cut off, foreclosed, shut down’ inspector general’s powers
Baltimore’s law department has “cut off, foreclosed, shut down” Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming’s ability to investigate waste, fraud and abuse, the judge overseeing a dispute over her access to records said Friday. Retired Baltimore Circuit Associate Judge Pamela J. White stopped short of ruling at the hearing but appeared to signal her view of the city’s arguments, saying they were minimizing the authority of the Office of the Inspector General under the city’s charter.
Show More
loading
Actions
Get in touch with Justin
Contact Justin, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack