Kaylah Wade, 20, was stabbed to death on the evening of Sunday, August 30, 2020, in the 400 block of East 27th Street in North Baltimore, near Greenmount Avenue. The Baltimore Police Department investigated, and the Baltimore Sun's homicide database lists her death as a homicide. The Sun's notes say three women were stabbed in the incident, and only Kaylah died.
Police said they were called to the area around 6:30 p.m. for a report of an assault.
Kaylah and two other women were taken to the hospital, and the other two women survived their injuries. FOX45 reported that she was "stabbed to death near a park on Greenmount Avenue" and that "Investigators are still trying to understand what prompted the attacks." Two days later, the station reported that police had "made no arrests so far."
Kaylah Ta'Shaun Wade was born on September 18, 1999, in Baltimore, according to her obituary, and was living in Columbia at the time of her death. Family and friends called her "Princess Kay" or "Kay." She went to Baltimore City public schools, attended Western High School, where she "became a proud Western Dove," and later graduated from The Achievement Academy in 2018. She was baptized as a child at Mt. Calvary Star Baptist Church, where she sang in the youth choir.
Her obituary describes a young woman who "had the biggest heart" and showed it "by always greeting people with a hug." She taught herself to design wigs and weaves, and with her best friend she launched a business of their own, "K and K Units," selling wig units. Her aunt, Alisha Morgan, told the Baltimore Sun that Kaylah had begun "to transition to full-time adulthood as a young entrepreneur," and that she also worked in food services at Sinai Hospital. The Sun's headline on that story carried the words "It is such a precious life to take." The obituary closes, "Kaylah's zeal for life and gentle personality will be truly missed by everyone that encountered her."
Kaylah was later remembered by name by Roberta's House, a Baltimore grief support organization, and her killing was cited in the Baltimore Sun's year-end reporting on the women and girls killed in the city in 2020. A volunteer list of 2020 Baltimore homicides recorded no arrest in the case, with a brief note that mentioned cameras.
The 400 block of East 27th Street lies in Harwood, a small rowhouse neighborhood in North Baltimore, just off Greenmount Avenue. Greenmount is one of the city's long north-south commercial corridors, and the blocks around it are busy on a summer evening, which means people were likely nearby when the attack happened.
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 Kaylah Wade could be found in news archives or public records. More than six years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Two other women survived the same attack, and anyone who was on or near Greenmount Avenue and East 27th Street on the evening of August 30, 2020, may have seen something that matters. 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).
