Joshua Hargrove was 20 years old when he was stabbed on Friday, Dec. 18, 2009, after a party at the Great Blacks in Wax Museum in the 1600 block of East North Avenue in Baltimore. The Baltimore Police Department investigated, and the Baltimore Sun's homicide database lists his death as a homicide.
According to court records described by the Baltimore Sun, the museum "had been rented out for a 'large party'" held by a group called the Baltimore Christian Warriors.
"A number of fights erupted, and Joshua Hargrove was stabbed as a group of men were escorted out of the facility just before midnight, records show." Police found him "lying unresponsive on the steps of a nearby home."
A museum official told the Sun that the group organized events for teenagers and had held fundraisers at the museum before without trouble, though an online promoter's page advertised the night as a high school party. "Inside, they do lots of stuff to ensure their security," Jonathan Wilson, the museum's deputy director, told the Sun. "Outside of the place is a different story. They can only control so much."
The day after the stabbing, an 18-year-old walked into Johns Hopkins Hospital with stab wounds of his own, and police said he gave a taped statement admitting he was one of the men who attacked Hargrove. He was charged with first-degree murder. About a month later, in January 2010, the charges were dropped. His lawyer told the Sun that the teen had not been armed and had been stabbed himself that night. A spokeswoman for the Baltimore State's Attorney's Office said there was "probable cause" for the charges, but that they were dropped after "investigative leads did not pan out." No one else is known to have been charged.
Little else about Joshua Hargrove has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser for him could be found for this story, and no relative appears to have spoken publicly about him. The record does not say where he lived, whether he went to the party with friends, or what the fights that night were about.
The Great Blacks in Wax Museum is a well-known East Baltimore landmark on North Avenue that, as the Sun noted, "features more than 100 life-size wax figures of prominent black leaders." On the night Hargrove was killed, the party drew a large crowd of young people, which means many people were inside or outside the building when the fights broke out and the group was escorted out. Some of them may have seen who had a knife.
Baltimore recorded roughly 200 to 280 homicides a year between 2007 and 2014, one of the highest rates of any large American city, and many of those killings were never solved.
Apart from the charge that was dropped in January 2010, no arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Joshua Hargrove could be found in news archives or public records. More than 16 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who attended the party at the Great Blacks in Wax Museum in December 2009, or who was on East North Avenue near midnight that Friday, may remember something that could still matter. Even a small detail, such as a name overheard, a vehicle seen nearby or a conversation remembered, can help detectives move a case forward. Anyone with information can call Baltimore Police homicide detectives at 410-396-2100, or leave an anonymous tip with Metro Crime Stoppers of Maryland at 1-866-7LOCKUP (1-866-756-2587).
