Teens charged with murder of supposed gay gang member
Two teenagers have been charged with the murder of a supposedly gay fellow gang member, and are being held without bail after a court hearing.
Randallstown High School student Steven Parish, 18, was stabbed and stamped to death by his fellow “Bloods” gang members after they found messages on his phone that suggested he was gay.
Steven T. Hollis III, 18, of Randallstown and Juan L. Flythe, 17, of West Baltimore, both of whom are members of the Bloods gang, according to police, were arrested and charged on Thursday evening with first-degree murder.
They are accused of killing Mr Parrish days before his high school graduation in May.
The body was found 29th May in a wooded area near his parents’ home and Woodlawn Cemetery.
“It’s awful,” Baltimore County prosecutor William B. Bickel said in an interview after yesterday’s bail-review hearing in Towson.
“You’re talking about a gangland-style execution because he was gay.
“They took him out back in a field and stabbed him to death.”
On the day before Parrish’s death, several members of the gang met at his home.
There, Hollis and Flythe discussed finding what they believed to be “gay” text messages on Parrish’s mobile phone.
Angered by the messages and a photograph they found, they worried that their Bloods group would appear weak in light of their findings.
As a result, they decided that Steven Parrish “had to go”, police wrote in charging documents.
Flythe later told his fellow gang members that he and Hollis confronted Parrish, who did not deny that the messages were “gay” in nature.
Flythe also told his associates that they stabbed and hit the victim before stamping on his neck.
A red bandanna was placed over Mr Parrish’s face and he was left in the woods.