According to the May 09, 1996 issue of the Baltimore Sun, Alphonso Spencer, 37, of the 4100 block of Belview Road was shot in the head and killed during a robbery on April 27, 1996 in the 4500 block of Franklintown Road. Spencer, an unlicensed cab driver, was found next to his car.
Below is the full text from the Baltimore Sun about several unlicensed cab driver murders, a police shooting and ultimately arrests regarding these events:
"The shooting of a Baltimore police officer in Edmondson Village last week was only the final act in a string of armed holdups that included at least three slayings, detectives believe. The evidence, they said yesterday, was a .25-caliber pistol that police found in the home of a Rognel Heights man who they believe was involved in the shooting of Officer Charles D. Carroll. After ballistics tests were performed, detectives said they realized it was the gun that had been used in a series of fatal holdups that took place over five days at the end of last month. The man who wielded it may have taken part in a months-long series of armed robberies from one end of West Baltimore to another, investigators said. Yesterday police arrested Arnold Braxton Jr., 20 of the 4300 block of Seminole Avenue and charged him with three counts of first-degree murder. More charges may be pending. The man who police say was Braxton's partner had been arrested earlier and charged in the shooting of the officer.
The first slaying that police say was committed with the recovered pistol took place in the early hours of April 26. Melvin Presley Alexander, 32, of the 3700 bloc of Boarman Avenue., was found dead in his car in the 800 block of Beaumont Ave. Police said yesterday they believe Alexander was a "hack", an unlicensed cab driver. The next night, Alphonso Spencer, 37, of the 4100 block of Belview Road was shot in the head and killed during a robbery in the 4500 block of Franklintown Road. Also a hack driver, Spencer was found next to his car. After a break of two days, a third hack, Maurice Coates, 24, was killed in the 400 block of Uplands Parkway during a robbery. His car was taken and the victim, of the 2300 block of West Fayette Street, was dumped on the street.
About four hours later, at 6 p.m. April 30, Carroll, 36, a 10-year veteran of the Southwestern District, was patrolling near Edmondson Village when police broadcast the description of two suspects in the robbery of two men in the 4300 block of Woodridge Road in Rognel Heights.. As the officer drove in the 1000 block of Kevin Road, he saw a man who ran two blocks south to the back yard of a rowhouse in the 4200 block of Flowertonroad. Carroll followed. A man turned and fired at him, hitting him in the right arm, police said. After twice returning fire, the officer droped his weapon because of his wound. When he turned to take cover, the gunman shot him in the buttocks. Carroll was treated at Maryland Shock Trauma and released.
After a standoff of about four hours, police arrested Nathaniel Powell, 17, of no fixed address and charged him with two counts of attempted murder. But detectives were aware that Powell was known to spend time with Braxton. Both were well-known in Rognel Heights in West Baltimore and openly displayed weapons, according to police. That led to the search of Braxton's house yesterday, and the three counts of first-degree murder brought against him after the pistol was found. Yesterday, Maj. Wendell France of the city's crimes against persons unit said Braxton and the Powell youth were being investigated in several-months string of armed holdups ranging from Northwest Baltimore to Southwest Baltimore. Braxton was charged with a handgun violation in each of the three fatal shootings.
"Braxton is known to carry a .25 caliber automatic," France said. We'e been doing a lot of legowrk on the ballistics between the weapon and the murders and the lab results came back on the gun. Obviously, we're not finished. There are other homicides we're looking at." Braxton was being held without bail last night at the Central District. The Powell youth was being held in lieu of $75,000 bail at the Baltimore City Detention Center on two charges of attempted murder, handgun violations and two counts of armed robbery."
Follow up:
As of June 6, 2017 there is an Arnold Braxton DOB 01/31/1995 listed as a detainee at the Western Correctional Institution 13800 McMullen Hwy. SW, Cumberland, MD 21502.
Nathaniel Maurice Powell DOB 06/22/1998 currently resides in Gwynn Oak, according to the Maryland Judiciary Case Search.