Yolanda Brown

This story starts off in the April 9, 2008 edition of the Baltimore Sun.

On the morning of March 20, 2008 someone saw a person get out of a vehicle and leave a body at the 3600 block of Winterbourne Road and they called the police.   The woman was pronounced dead at the scene and was identified as Yolanda Brown, 36, who may have resided at a halfway house.  

And that might have been all that was to the story, however, the killer forgot to find out little detail about Yolanda before he strangled her:  Her brother is a city cop.  And that makes all the difference in the world.

We move on to this Investigative Voice blog post.

In 2008, five women with records of prostitution were strangled over a four-month period. Four of those cases remain unsolved, a string of crimes that began on the same stretch of Winterbourne Road where Brown’s alleged victim suffered her harrowing attack. 

Ms. Brown had been raped and strangled, much like another victim of a man who had been arrested for rape and attempted murder by William Vincent Brown, DOB 11/12/1966, of the 5100 block of Oaklawn Road.   The only difference between Yolanda Brown and the other victim was that the other  victim survived the attack.  She too was left for dead on the 3600 block of Winterbourne Road.   However,  police had not said if they questioned William Brown about Yolanda Brown’s death, of if they suspect any connection between the two cases other than the strikingly similar circumstances in which both victims were attacked and the place where it occurred.

In an interview with detective Raymond Yost last year, Yost said he had doubts if Yolanda Brown’s death was even a homicide.  “She had a lot of drugs in her system,” he told Investigative Voice in a telephone interview.  Later,  an autopsy found that Brown had petechial hemorrhaging under her eyelids and focal hemorrhages under her tongue, two telltale signs of strangulation.  Yolanda Brown also had battled drug addiction, and had been arrested for prostitution. The sister of a city police officer plied the same north and northwest neighborhoods of the city where the victim who identified Brown testified she was headed the night of her attack. Investigators found DNA evidence beneath Yolanda Brown’s fingernails but have yet to say if the material matches any suspects.

William Vincent Brown

William Vincent Brown is accused of strangling three women in a 10-month stretch between 2003 and 2004.  Last month homicide detective Chris Jones recounted details from a preliminary interview with Brown shortly after his arrest in July 2008.  During the interview Brown told detectives that he had battled heroin addiction and frequently picked up prostitutes after drinking with his friends in the Poplar Grove area where he grew up.  However, Brown did not confess to killing either Emma O’Hearn or Antiana Mills, the woman and 15-year-old girl, respectively, whom he is charged with strangling and beating to death.  William Brown’s DNA was found on all three victims, DNA samples that were obtained when the crimes occurred but were not matched to Brown until July 2008.

According to the Judiciary Case Search William Brown has a CDS- NOT MARIHUANA, he was a fugitive from justice in 1999, he plead guilty to a CDS- Manufacturing in 1998, he maliciously destroyed some property and enjoyed an open alcoholic beverage at one point.

Mr. William Vincent Brown has been charged with first degree murder, first degree rape, assault, deadly weapon, a bunch of sex offenses...........x3.

As of 11/2010, Mr. William Vincent Brown currently resides at the Baltimore City Detention Center awaiting trial.

Upon another check of the Maryland Judiciary Case Search, Yolanda Darnella Brown, born 3/26/1971 has an extensive record.   She must have gotten caught up in Mayor Martin O'Malley's zero tolerance policing program.   In the 10 years prior to 2008, Ms. Yolanda Brown has been charged with soliciting a ride, loitering, using obscene language, prostitution, loitering for the purpose of prostitution, CDS - POSSESS NOT MARIHUANA and soliciting several times over.  Upon reviewing the multitude of charges over the years there was not one charge of a violent act.

Update 1/19/11 William Vincent Brown's trial for allegedly choking a woman, raping her, nearly severing her ears from her head and leaving her for dead in Leakin Park on April 13, 2003 gets underway tomorrow.  The prosecution claims to have DNA evidence that links Mr. Brown to the case, as well as the other 2 murder cases that are scheduled for this defendant in the upcoming months.  Stay tuned.

Update 1/31/11  William Vincent Brown was found guilty of 2nd Degree Attempted Murder and 2nd Degree Rape for the above case.  Read the article, something about he was on drugs and drinking, his pregnant wife was on drugs and selling herself, boo hoo hoo, etc.  1 trial down, Mr. Brown has 2 murder trials to go.  I'm not sure his defense strategy is working.

Update 3/19/11  William Vincent Brown entered an Alford pleae on March17, 2011 of the murders of Emma O'Hearn and Antiana Mills a day before he was schedule to go on trial for the murder of 15 year old Emma O'Hearn.  He receive a life sentence with all but 50 years suspended in a plea deal.  You can read about the deal in this Baltimore Sun Article of March 18, 2011.  No word yet on what happened to Yolanda Brown.

Update 6/16/11  I checked the case search.  William Vincent Brown now resides in the North Branch Correctional Facility in Cumberland.

Update 02/15/18   This is just a little bonus. This is probably my favorite criminal charge of all times. This exemplifies why the Baltimore City Police are the rottenest most horrific people on earth. What the heck is the charge code for obscene language and why is this illegal?