Jerod Richardson, a 68-year-old man, died on Friday, May 29, 2015, nearly two weeks after he was hurt at a nursing home in the 2500 block of West Belvedere Avenue in Baltimore. The medical examiner ruled that he died of a head injury from blunt force, and his death was classified as a homicide after an autopsy on Monday, June 1, 2015, the date the Baltimore Sun's homicide database uses for the case.
The Baltimore Police Department investigated, and the Sun's database lists the death as a homicide.
What little is known comes from a short report in the Baltimore Sun on June 2, 2015. On May 17, officers responded to the nursing home, "where they found Jerod Richardson, 68, injured after an altercation with another resident," Baltimore police spokesman Det. Jeremy Silbert said. Richardson was taken to a hospital and died on May 29. "An autopsy performed on Monday ruled that the cause of death was homicide by head injury," Silbert said, adding that homicide detectives were continuing to investigate.
The report does not say what the altercation was about, whether anyone saw it, or what happened to the other resident afterward. It does not name that person, and no later news story could be found saying whether anyone was arrested, charged or found unable to stand trial. Because the death came almost two weeks after the injury, and the homicide ruling came only after the autopsy, the case may have drawn little public attention at the time. The Sun reported it in the same story as the city's first shootings of June.
Beyond his name, his age and the place where he was hurt, almost nothing about Jerod Richardson has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story, and no news outlet appears to have reported on his life. He surely had family, friends or caregivers who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record. Searches for his name turn up several other men called Jerod Richardson, including a college athlete and a soldier, who are not connected to this case.
A death like this one raises questions that the public record does not answer. Nursing homes keep staff on duty around the clock, and residents, workers and visitors may have seen or heard what happened that day in May. Records kept by the facility, the hospital and the medical examiner may hold details that were never released. Whether the case was handled as a crime, a medical matter or both is not clear from anything published.
The 2500 block of West Belvedere Avenue lies along one of the main roads crossing the northwestern part of the city, an area that includes homes, medical buildings and care facilities.
After the unrest of 2015, Baltimore recorded more than 300 homicides a year for eight straight years, and the share of killings that ended in an arrest fell sharply.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Jerod Richardson could be found in news archives or public records. More than 11 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who lived at, worked at or visited the nursing home on West Belvedere Avenue in May 2015 may remember what happened to him. 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).
