Shawntaey Alexander was 43 years old when he was fatally stabbed on Thursday, August 9, 2018, in the 5500 block of Park Heights Avenue in Baltimore. The Baltimore Police Department investigated the killing, and the Baltimore Sun's homicide database lists his death as a homicide.
Beyond his name, his age and the block where he was found, almost nothing about Shawntaey Alexander 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 the death in detail. He surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say whether he was stabbed during a fight or a robbery, attacked by a stranger or by someone he knew, or hurt indoors or on the street.
It does not say what time of day it happened, whether he died at the scene or later at a hospital, whether anyone saw what happened, or whether investigators ever identified a suspect.
His first name is an unusual one, which means that anyone who knew him in Northwest Baltimore is likely to recognize it right away. Friends, relatives, coworkers or neighbors who knew Shawntaey Alexander by that name, or by a nickname, may be able to describe who he was, where he spent his days and who he spent them with in the summer of 2018. Even simple memories of that kind can help detectives reconstruct the last hours of a person's life.
Park Heights Avenue is one of the main roads of Northwest Baltimore, running for miles from the edge of the city's center toward the county line. It gives its name to the Park Heights community and passes Pimlico Race Course, the historic track long known as the home of the Preakness Stakes. The 5500 block lies in the northern stretch of the avenue, an area of rowhouses, detached homes, churches and small businesses where residents and community groups have worked for years to bring new investment and stability to the neighborhood.
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. Shawntaey Alexander was one of the people killed in that period whose case drew almost no public attention.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Shawntaey Alexander could be found in news archives or public records. More than eight years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was along Park Heights Avenue in early August 2018, or who knew Shawntaey Alexander and heard talk of a dispute or a fight around that time, 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).
