With his face plastered throughout the region and $12,000 in reward money behind it, Baltimore's latest Public Enemy No. 1, Antonio Wright, finally realized he had nowhere to hide.
"He turned himself in in the area of the 1200 block of Greenmount Avenue---the same area this crime took place in and he will now face a host of charges," said Baltimore Police Media Relations Chief T.J. Smith.
Surveillance video shows a man, identified by police as Wright, tossing a pair of Molotov Cocktails into a house on Greenmount Avenue on Saturday where two people died and six others were injured.
Among them were a 4-year-old boy, an 11-year-old and 20-year-old Micah Pinkney who remains in critical condition after jumping from a third floor window and suffering two broken legs and trauma to the face from the fall.
"I came to the door and I saw all of the flames coming out of the window and I saw my great niece lying on the ground unconscious," said Inez Pinkney-Silver, the victim’s great aunt.
"We live right here and this is our family and we live four doors from them... four,” said Issac Silver, the victim’s cousin, “Like what if it could have burned our house and all that? I'm glad to say I hope my cousin makes it. Just sad."
Police say the firebombing may have been retaliation after a shooting outside the same home a few days earlier.
Whatever the case, a woman professing to be Wright's wife posted an audio message purportedly from the fugitive claiming his innocence.
"Right now I'm issued as Baltimore City Public Enemy No. 1,” said the voice on the recording, “I want to let everybody know I did not commit that crime and my heart goes out to the family."
While giving a voice to a wanted man isn't against the law, police warn his so-called wife may yet have to answer for her actions if she helped him evade capture.
"If we find evidence that corroborates someone aiding and abetting him, they will be prosecuted,” said Smith, “Absolutely. He is... or was wanted for a double murder and six counts of attempted murder."
The two men who died in the fire, 19-year-old Shi-Heem Sholto and 17-year-old Tyrone James, were friends of a family member that happened to be staying at the house.
Wright has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, six counts of first-degree attempted murder, various assault charges, and numerous arson charges, police said.
He's being held at Central Booking.
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