Tyrone Stokes was 39 years old when his body was found in the 5600 block of Govane Avenue in North Baltimore on Thursday, July 28, 2016. An autopsy determined that he had been stabbed, and his death was added to the city's list of homicides on Friday, July 29. The Baltimore Police Department investigated, and the Baltimore Sun's homicide database lists his death as a homicide caused by stabbing.
When police found him, his body had already begun to decompose, which suggests he may have
been dead for some time before anyone discovered him. Fox45 reported that officers found the body on Govane Avenue near Harwood Avenue, and that "after an autopsy, medical examiners determined that the man had suffered several stab wounds." Because of the condition of the body, he was not publicly identified for several days. On Tuesday, August 2, authorities named him as Tyrone Stokes, 39, of Bennett Place. The Baltimore Sun's weekly Murder Ink column repeated the identification a week later.
Beyond those few lines, almost nothing about Tyrone Stokes has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser for him could be found for this story. Searches for his name return other men, including a Baltimore man with the same name who died years earlier, and none of those records appear to describe him. He surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record.
The basic circumstances also remain unknown. The record does not say when he was attacked, whether he was killed where he was found or somewhere else, whether he knew the person who stabbed him, or whether he was robbed. It does not say who found him or whether anyone in the area had noticed anything unusual in the days before. That a man could lie on a city street long enough for decomposition to begin raises its own questions, and it may mean the spot was out of sight, or that people who saw something did not report it.
The 5600 block of Govane Avenue is in North Baltimore, near Harwood Avenue, in a largely residential part of the city. Police said Stokes lived on Bennett Place, not on Govane Avenue, which suggests he may have gone to the area where he was found for a reason that has never been made public, or that he was brought there after he was killed.
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 Tyrone Stokes could be found in news archives or public records. More than ten years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew Tyrone Stokes, saw him in the days before late July 2016, or noticed anything unusual around Govane Avenue and Harwood Avenue that month may have information that detectives never received. 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).
