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Price $1. Our 173rd year, No. 75

TUESDAY March 16, 2010

Murder charge in baby’s death
Police say mother confesses to burying son and has had 4 children taken away
By Justin Fenton |
JUSTIN.FENTON@BALTSUN.COM

The mother of a one-month-old boy who authorities , said has had four other children
taken away by social services, confessed Monday to burying the infant in Druid Hill
Park and has been charged with first-degree murder, police said. Homicide detectives
tracked down 28-year-old Lakesha Haynie late Monday afternoon, a day after the boy’s
father led them to the shallow grave in a wooded area of the park. The father told
police that his son, Rajahnthon Haynie, had been buried in the park by his mother
sometime last month, according to Anthony Guglielmi, the depart-

ment’s chief spokesman. An autopsy determined the child died from blunt force trauma
and suffered head fractures, Guglielmi said. Lakesha Haynie, of the 2300 block of
Whittier Ave., told investigators that the boy had suffocated, but police spokesman
Donny Moses said other aspects of her story were consistent with the injuries the
state medical examiner had documented. Moses declined to elaborate. On Sunday evening,
the father, who has not been charged, led police to the spot where the child was
buried, and his remains were found inside a bag. Police began searching for Lakesha
Haynie and located a baby carrier and a blanket that the father said had been thrown
off a bridge near the Jones Falls Expressway ac, cording to a law enforcement source
with knowledge of See MOTHER, page 8

ACORN in Md. is shuttered
Group is undone in national scandal sparked by videos showing illegal activity
By Brent Jones |
BRENT.JONES@BALTSUN.COM

A river runs through it

A former leader of Maryland’s ACORN chapter said Monday the group will no longer
operate in the state, doomed by an embarrassing national scandal six months ago from
which the organization never recovered. Sonja Merchant-Jones, former co-chairwoman
of the state chapter of ACORN and a board member since 1999, said there are no plans
in Maryland to rebrand under a different name, a move undertaken Monday by several
ACORN affiliates across the country . Maryland ACORN ceased operations late last
year, Merchant-Jones said, and all the offices in the state have closed. The group
has not held a board meeting in Maryland since November, she added. The Association
of Community Organizations for Reform Now came under scrutiny in September, when
videos recorded in Baltimore showed workers counseling two conservative activists
pretending to be a pimp and prostitute. Two staff members of the Baltimore office
were fired because of the video, which was broadcast on major networks throughout
the country and showed the employees giving tax-evading tips to the man and a scantily
dressed female partner. The incident effectively shut down local and state offices,
Merchant-Jones said, and the branches were forced to cease operations after dues-paying
members fled. Congress reacted to the video by stripping ACORN’s federal funding.
Last week a federal judge upheld a ruling that a law blacklisting ACORN and groups
allied with it was unconstitutional, but observers doubt ACORN will recoup any money.
With its federal dollars gone, ACORN’s national budget went from $24 million last
year to $6 million this year. See ACORN, page 15

City Hall is closed by letter threat; judges also targeted
By Julie Scharper and Tricia Bishop
JULIE.SCHARPER@BALTSUN.COM TRICIA.BISHOP@BALTSUN.COM

ALGERINA PERNA/BALTIMORE SUN PHOTO

Heavy rains over the weekend led officials at the Conowingo Dam to open 11 floodgates
Monday to send water shooting into the lower part of the Susquehanna River. The river
above the dam is expected to rise 6 more inches and crest around noon today. See
article PG 3.

A spate of threatening letters — some containing bullets and white powder — have
been delivered to Baltimore City Hall and the city circuit courthouse in recent days,
prompting a joint investigation by city police and U.S. Postal inspectors. City Hall
was evacuated for about 40 minutes Monday afternoon after a clerk opened a letter
containing white powder that police later determined to be harmless, said police
spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. Four letters, including at least two with bullets enclosed,
also were sent to judges at the Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. courthouse on Friday and
Monday authorities said. , Judge M. Brooke Murdock, head of the criminal division,
said that an employee in her office opened a letter Monday that contained both powder
and a bullet. “Judges on the Baltimore City Circuit Court have their lives threatened
all the time,” Murdock said. But “not quite like this,” she added. “This
is pretty dramatic.” Murdock alerted police, who immediately sent a hazardous materials
team to inspect the letter. Officers determined that the powder was likely talcum,
she said. See THREATS, page 6

SUMMARY OF THE NEWS
MARYLAND

School board chief defends action in makeup-selling case
Neil E. Duke said a thorough inquiry and an “appropriate response” followed the
discovery that the principal of the city’s Institute of Business and Entrepreneurship
was recruiting Filipino teachers to buy and resell thousands of dollars in cosmetics.
Neil would not say what action was taken against the principal, who remains on the
job. PG 2

Price trying to buy stake in China funds giant, reports say
By Jamie Smith Hopkins
JAMIE.SMITH.HOPKINS@BALTSUN.COM

TODAY’S WEATHER
INCREASINGLY SUNNY

HIGH LOW

Mostly sunny and warmer Wednesday PG 3

Today, a new voice in The Sun
Local journalist Marta H. Mossburg will join The Baltimore Sun’s lineup of op-ed
page columnists. Every other Tuesday, the senior fellow at the Maryland Public Policy
Institute will tackle issues including waste and fraud in local government, pension
reform and education. PG 13

Baltimore money manager T. Rowe Price Group is reportedly trying to buy a stake in
the largest mutual-fund house in China, which would broaden its reach in a country
that boasts one of the world’s fastest-growing economies and one-fifth of the globe’s
population. Price is in “advanced talks” to purchase part of China Asset Management
Co. in a deal that could be worth upward of $1 billion, according to news reports
on Monday The Chinese firm’s parent com. pany has to sell some of its holdings
to comply with regulatory demands, and Price has already established a relationship
with the players as an adviser to the firm during the past three years. Kennedy Price
declined to comment, saying it does not discuss “market rumors.” But in an interview
with The Baltimore Sun last month, Price Chief Executive James A.C. Kennedy brought
up his company’s relationship with China Asset Management when asked about foreign
acquisitions. “We manage some money for them,” he said. “Might that

BALTIMORE SUN PHOTO 2007

T. Rowe Price is reported to be in talks to purchase a 25 percent share of China
Asset Management. The Chinese firm’s parent is under pressure to diversify ownership.

turn into an economic interest? We don’t know.” The potential size of a deal
is unclear, though it could be substantial. By law, one firm cannot own more than
49 percent of a Chinese fund manager, so China Asset Management’s parent, CITIC
Securities International Co. Ltd., which owns the entire firm, is being pressed by
regulators to decrease its holdings. According to Reuters, which first reported the
talks, a deal could be worth more than $1.3 billion. But CITIC could sell smaller
stakes to several companies. See PRICE, page 9

inside

lottery news 4 ● opinion news 12


crime & courts news 6 classified sports 5 ●


movies news 8 ● puzzles sports 6, 9


business news 10 ● obituaries news 14 tonight on tv sports 9 ● comics sports
8