Arnold Manuel, 60, was stabbed on Saturday, December 17, 2022, in the 1300 block of Edmondson Avenue in West Baltimore. The Baltimore Police Department investigated, and the Baltimore Sun's homicide database lists his death as a homicide.
Officers were called to the block at 7:41 p.m. that Saturday, WMAR reported, and found Manuel "suffering from multiple stab wounds." He was taken to an area hospital, where he later died.
Witnesses told WJZ that he had been inside a carryout when someone asked him for money and then stabbed him multiple times. Police said the suspect ran off, and WJZ reported that no arrests had been made.
His older sister, Kim Manuel, described him to Fox45 as a gentle man who "faced challenges his entire life." "He was mentally challenged," she said. "All he do is wave, he don't bother nobody." She told the station she considered him more like a son, especially after their mother died in 2020. On the day he was killed, she said, the two had a typical day together. "He caught the bus at 4:10. He usually call me when he gets home, but he didn't call me," she said.
She told WJZ that he was walking home from his mother's house just before 8 p.m. when he stopped inside the carryout. "He wouldn't do any harm to anybody, that is innocent bloodshed," she said. "I cried and I screamed for days." On the Tuesday after the killing, family and friends gathered for a vigil one block from where he was attacked. His nephew, Devon Manuel, told WJZ, "My uncle was a joy. He was literally the definition of an angel sent to earth." He added, "This is devastating to the whole family because we wouldn't expect that from him. We wouldn't expect anybody to do anything to him." Relatives said they hoped the person responsible would come forward. Funeral services were handled by the Derrick C. Jones Funeral Home in Baltimore.
Edmondson Avenue is one of the main roads running west out of downtown Baltimore, lined for much of its length with rowhouses, corner stores and small carryouts that serve the surrounding West Baltimore neighborhoods. A carryout on a busy stretch like this one is the kind of place where neighbors stop in at all hours, which means other people may well have been nearby that evening.
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 Arnold Manuel could be found in news archives or public records. More than three years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Someone who was in or near the carryout in the 1300 block of Edmondson Avenue on the evening of December 17, 2022, or who later heard talk about the man who asked for money there, 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).
