In the summer of 2017, a night out in Baltimore turned tragic for 34-year-old Edralin Montebon, an Asian/Pacific Islander man. On July 22, 2017, at approximately 1:10 a.m., he was found unconscious on East Cross Street in the Federal Hill neighborhood. It appeared he had been involved in a physical altercation. Emergency services transported him to a local hospital for treatment.
Despite medical efforts, Montebon succumbed to his injuries and passed away on July 25, 2017. An obituary tribute described the cause of death as a brain aneurysm suffered during an assault on his way home on the evening of Friday, July 21, 2017. The tribute also noted that strangers had intervened to stop the perpetrator and call for an ambulance. Doctors ultimately informed his family that he had sustained brain damage from which he could not recover.
In the days following the incident, Baltimore police homicide detectives began investigating the circumstances surrounding Montebon's death. While his death was not immediately classified as a homicide, the case was being handled by the homicide unit pending a final determination from the medical examiner. Investigators believed Montebon had been in some sort of dispute and were working to piece together the events of that night. A small memorial was created in his honor on a sign in the area where the assault occurred.
As part of their investigation, police canvassed the neighborhood for information and reviewed surveillance footage. In early August 2017, they released a video of a person of interest, described as an unidentified white male, hoping the public could help identify him. A reward of up to $2,000 was offered by Metro Crime Stoppers for any information that would lead to an arrest and the filing of charges in the case. As of the latest available online information from that time, no arrests had been publicly announced.
