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mahatmakanejeeves

(56,897 posts)
8. Two teen beating suspects reportedly watched their victim crawl into traffic; charged with murder.
Wed Aug 8, 2018, 03:21 PM
Aug 2018
Public Safety

Two teen beating suspects reportedly watched their victim crawl into traffic. Now they’re charged with murder.

By Dan Morse August 8 at 8:39 AM [link:dan.morse@washpost.com|Email the author]

For two months, detectives in Maryland tried to piece together the final steps of Greg Atwood’s life. ... One moment, the friendly 40-year-old — holding a walking stick in his hand and cans of beer in his backpack — ambled along a darkened street just before 3 a.m. The next moment, he was accosted, robbed of his backpack and beaten so badly he seemingly tried to escape by crawling across a six-lane road before collapsing midway.

Now, in new court records in Montgomery County, authorities have for the first time laid out why they think the actions of at least two of the alleged attackers — a 15-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy — amounted to murder. ... “The suspects watched the victim lay motionless in the travel lanes of Georgia Avenue,” detectives wrote in an arrest warrant for the 15-year-old. “Approximately a minute later, the suspects watched a vehicle run over the victim.” ... The suspects left without calling 911, authorities say, and headed off to an all-night McDonald’s. ... Atwood was struck by at least one additional car. Neither vehicle stopped, and it is not clear whether the drivers knew what they had done.

Atwood’s passing jarred those who knew him best. In interviews, they described Atwood as a skilled audio-video technician who had set up systems at events and concerts. He wrote poetry, sculpted and painted, even as he struggled with depression and alcohol abuse. ... “Just an in­cred­ibly sweet guy,” said a former girlfriend who lived with him from 2009 to 2013.

Atwood lived in recent years at a residential shelter in Rockville and a group home just north of Aspen Hill, about a mile from where he died. At the home, he liked circulating among rooms, stopping in for chats. The door to his room — decked out with a metallic skull, a six-inch smiling yellow emoji and a block-letter-written slogan advising all to break free what holds them back — led to an orderly lineup of computers, paintings, photographs and plants.
....

Dan Morse covers courts and crime in Montgomery County. He arrived at the paper in 2005, after reporting stops at the Wall Street Journal, Baltimore Sun and Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser, where he was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. He is the author of "The Yoga Store Murder." Follow https://twitter.com/morsedan
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