Joshuan Quanta Beasley

Joshuan Quanta Beasley, 26, a Black man from Baltimore, Maryland, was pulled into the city’s grim end-of-year homicide count on November 30, 2009, when police publicly identified him as one of the latest victims.

What was known right away was brutally simple: Beasley had been shot several times in the 1000 block of North Carey Street, and he died after the attack. The location—rowhouses, narrow blocks, and the hard edge where small disputes can turn lethal—was all investigators cou ...