Convicted Murderer Charged In Another Baltimore Homicide
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Police announced an arrest Wednesday in Feb. 28's murder of Morris Hood, Jr. on Monastery Avenue.
Harry Cokley, 36, was arrested Tuesday and booked on a charge of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Morris Hood, Jr., Baltimore Police said.
Cokley was released in 2016, police say, after serving 13 years in prison for a previous murder and robbery conviction, according to court records.
"We have to make sure they're either serving their offenses—their sentences, and are rehabilitated when they're incarcerated so they don't come out to re-offend," BPD Commissioner Michael Harrison said Wednesday.
Cokley pleaded guilty to an Oct. 7, 2002 murder and an Oct. 31, 2002 robbery when he was 17 years old, court records show. He was sentenced to 25 years—with 5 suspended—for the murder and 10 years for the robbery. He ended up serving 13 years."What has been done with these individuals when they've been serving so long, this time behind bars? What kinds of rehabilitation efforts were made?" Mayor Scott said Wednesday.The arrest comes as year-to-date homicides and non-fatal shootings continue to outpace 2021's figures. As of Wednesday morning, 68 people were killed in Baltimore City in 2022.Police Commissioner Harrison said Monday's shooting at Dunbar High School that injured an 18-year-old student "speaks to a culture of violence where people are using bad decisions to use guns to solve their conflict."
