Devoon Johnson, 29, was stabbed on Monday, May 15, 2023, in the 1600 block of Ruxton Avenue in Baltimore. The Baltimore Police Department investigated, and the Baltimore Sun's homicide database lists his death as a homicide.
According to WMAR's running tracker of the city's violence, the stabbing happened at about 12:48 that Monday morning, when "an altercation led to a double stabbing" that left Johnson dead and a 28-year-old woman injured.
Baltimore Witness reported that Johnson "succumbed to his injuries at a local hospital," while the woman was "expected to survive." Police later identified him by name in a short list of people killed in the city that week. The woman was not named, and no account has said what the altercation was about, how many people were involved, or how the two victims knew each other, if they did.
The fact that a second person was wounded and survived suggests there was at least one witness to the attack. Police have not said publicly whether she was able to describe the person responsible, and no suspect has been named.
Beyond his name, his age and the block where he was hurt, almost nothing about Devoon Johnson 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 his death in detail. He surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record. His name was later read aloud among the city's victims of violence in a WYPR memorial series and included in prayer lists published by the Archdiocese of Baltimore's Catholic Review, and WMAR included his photo in a feature on the year's homicide victims.
Little has been published about the 1600 block of Ruxton Avenue itself. An independent online list of Baltimore homicides noted that the killing took place inside a Group Violence Reduction Strategy zone, one of the areas where the city concentrated its effort to stop group-related shootings and other violence by reaching the people most at risk.
Homicides in Baltimore began falling steeply in 2023 and 2024, reaching the lowest totals in decades, yet many killings from those years remain unsolved.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Devoon Johnson 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. Anyone who was on or near the 1600 block of Ruxton Avenue late on the night of May 14 or early on May 15, 2023, or who heard about the argument that led up to the stabbing, may know something that could help detectives. 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).
