Arson Victim May Have Been Followed Home
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Killers tried to cover up the murder of a man in northeast Baltimore by setting his house on fire. WJZ is uncovering new information about the possible motive behind this disturbing crime.
Mike Hellgren has the latest on the investigation.
Police are not talking, but according to published reports, the victim may have been stalked from his job at a club—by people angry he threw them out, and they wanted payback.
Ellison McCall junior's friends and family are struggling to deal with his murder.
Investigators carried McCall's body from his house in the 1400 block of Homestead Street on Saturday.
WJZ's media partner the Baltimore Sun reports someone beat McCall and soaked his body in gasoline before setting the house on fire.
A friend told the paper McCall worked at the Haven Lounge and had to kick out some unruly men who later followed him to his home.
The Haven is where former City Councilman Ken Harris was murdered two years ago. Those robbers were caught on surveillance tape.
Neighbors tell WJZ that McCall worked at the club to make ends meet—after he was laid off from his job as a crane operator.
That's where he was working at part-time," said one neighbor. "That's what he told me."
"He would always come out here and speak to me, cut my grass, go to the store for me, anything. Anything I wanted him to do, he would do it," said his neighbor.
McCall was a father, and according to reports, he'd lived in Baltimore for about a year. He moved to Maryland from New Jersey.
Family members declined to comment.
Four days after the fire, his home has not been boarded up; the inside is bare. Charred debris sits in a pile on the front lawn.
"Just to hear that he was murdered, man. I mean, that just blew me away because I mean he didn't seem like he had no enemies," said a neighbor.
It's unclear whether any surveillance video at The Haven captured possible suspects.
Police will not answer any questions on the record about the case.
The Sun reports several law enforcement sources confirm police are looking into the possibility that people McCall ordered out of the club may have killed him for revenge.
Right now it is unclear whether McCall was dead before the home was on fire. The medical examiner is looking into the cause of death.
