Joseph Green was 57 years old when he was stabbed in the 2800 block of Woodbrook Avenue in Baltimore on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020. According to the Baltimore Sun's notes, the attack happened at 7:20 p.m. that evening. He did not die right away. The Sun's homicide database lists his date of death as Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, and notes that this was the date police were notified that he had died. The Baltimore Police Department investigated, and the Sun's database lists his death as a homicide.
The gap of nearly two weeks between the stabbing and the death suggests that Green may have survived for some time after he was hurt, possibly under medical care, before his injuries proved fatal. The record does not say where he was treated or what happened in those days.
His name later appeared among the victims of the first week of November 2020 in the Catholic Review's list praying by name for Baltimore's victims of violence, a weekly roll in which the archdiocesan newspaper asked readers to remember each person killed in the city.
Beyond his name, his age and the block where he was found, almost nothing about Joseph Green 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. Joseph Green is a common name, and searches turn up many other men with the same name, including an unrelated Baltimore man who was shot in 2021, which makes it harder to find news coverage or family tributes that clearly belong to him.
The 2800 block of Woodbrook Avenue is a residential block in Baltimore. The stabbing happened in the early evening on a weekday in October, a time when people are often coming home from work, sitting on steps or walking to stores, which means there may have been people nearby who saw or heard something.
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.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Joseph Green could be found in news archives or public records. More than five years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was on or near the 2800 block of Woodbrook Avenue on the evening of Oct. 21, 2020, or who knew Joseph Green and heard talk of a fight or a dispute that October, 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).
