Edarlin Montebon was 34 years old when his death was formally ruled a homicide on Thursday, October 19, 2017. He had been injured months earlier, during an altercation at about 1:10 a.m. on Saturday, July 22, 2017, in the first block of East Cross Street in Baltimore. He died of blunt force injuries. The Baltimore Police Department investigated, and the Baltimore Sun's homicide database lists his death as a homicide.
The only account of what happened comes from a short note in the Sun's
database. It says that Montebon "died after being injured during an altercation on July 22, 2017 at 1:10 a.m." and that the October date "reflects the date his death was formally ruled a homicide." The note does not say when he actually died, how long he lived after he was hurt, or where he was treated. The long gap between the altercation and the ruling suggests that the medical examiner's findings, rather than the night itself, were what brought the case onto the city's homicide list.
Beyond his name, his age and the block where he was found, almost nothing about Edarlin Montebon 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 the death in detail. He surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say who else was involved in the altercation, how many people took part, or whether it began inside a business or out on the sidewalk. It does not say whether police were called that night, whether anyone was questioned, or whether investigators ever identified a suspect.
The gap of nearly three months between the injury and the homicide ruling may also have made the case harder to solve. People who saw a scuffle in the early morning hours of a summer weekend would have had no reason, at the time, to think they had witnessed a killing, and by the time the ruling came, their memories of the night may already have faded.
The first block of East Cross Street sits in South Baltimore, near the Cross Street Market, a public market that has served the Federal Hill area for generations. The surrounding blocks are known for rowhouses, restaurants and bars, and on summer weekends the streets around the market are often busy well past midnight, which means many people may have been nearby at 1 a.m. on that Saturday.
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 Edarlin Montebon could be found in news archives or public records. More than nine years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Someone who was out on East Cross Street near the market in the early morning of July 22, 2017, or who later heard talk in South Baltimore about a fight there that summer, may know 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).
