Jerome Thomas was 61 years old when his body was found in the bathtub of a vacant home in the 1800 block of East Lafayette Avenue in Baltimore on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, at about 12:58 p.m., according to the Baltimore Sun's notes. He had suffered blunt force injuries. The Sun's homicide database lists his date as Friday, Nov. 6, 2020, which the notes say was the date his death was determined to be a homicide.
The Baltimore Police Department investigated, and the Sun's database lists it as a homicide.
The few details in the record raise questions that have never been answered in public. A man in his sixties was found inside a vacant house, in a bathtub, and it took three days for his death to be classified as a homicide, which suggests that investigators may have needed an autopsy to determine how he died. A crime blog that tracks Baltimore killings described the case only as a victim found with blunt force trauma in a home, and named no suspect. The record does not say how long he had been there, whether he had any connection to the house, or who found him.
Beyond his name, his age and the block where he was found, almost nothing about Jerome Thomas has been made public. No news outlet appears to have reported on the death in detail, and no memorial page or family fundraiser could be confirmed as his. His name appears in an online list of Baltimore's 2020 homicide victims, but no family member's account of his life has been published. He surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record.
Jerome Thomas is also a fairly common name. News searches turn up several other men with the same name, including a younger Baltimore man charged in an unrelated 2020 death outside a bar in Anne Arundel County, which makes it harder to find coverage that clearly belongs to this victim.
East Lafayette Avenue runs through East Baltimore, and the 1800 block, like many parts of the city, has homes that stand empty, including the one where he was found. Vacant houses are often entered by people looking for shelter, and someone who used the house or watched it from the street may have noticed who came and went in the days before Nov. 3, 2020.
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 Jerome Thomas could be found in news archives or public records. More than five years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who lived on or near the 1800 block of East Lafayette Avenue in late October or early November 2020, or who knew a 61-year-old man named Jerome Thomas who stopped being seen around that time, may know something that could help. 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).
