Prince George's Police Face Trend of Killings 'for Nothing'

'Senseless Acts,' and the Way Out

The prevalence of guns in young hands takes away the opportunity for reason to prevail in such confrontations, said Vernon R. Herron, public safety director for Prince George's.

"All of these killings that we are seeing are just senseless acts," he said. "There hasn't been a homicide recently on the streets of Prince George's County that could not have been prevented if the perpetrator had just thought through what they were doing."

Former D.C. police chief Isaac Fulwood Jr., a member of the U.S. Parole Commission, said the "thug culture" portrayed in some music, music videos and movies has fanned interest in carrying guns. "And now with this thug mentality, we're seeing all these young people being killed by other young people, for nothing," he said.

Court records show that some of those involved in the Uno killings had been mixed up with guns before. Poston served no jail time after pleading guilty in 2004 to illegal possession of a handgun after he threatened to shoot men he had argued with over a football game in a Bowie park. Sneed served three days after pleading guilty to a handgun violation in 2003. Johnson, who was arrested three times on marijuana charges last year, was at a Landover rooming house where police conducting a raid found an illegal handgun in April 2007. He was not charged because authorities could not determine whether the gun was his.

Authorities said the number of youths carrying guns has increased because of lax penalties. Laws meant to curtail gun possession "have been watered down" to the point that they are rendered ineffective, said Vince, the former ATF agent who is a partner in Crime Gun Solutions, a Frederick-based company that collects and interprets gun-crimes data.

Because many of the gun cases are first offenses, officials said, they are often not prosecuted. When they are, judges are hesitant to impose stiff penalties, even as the number of young people caught with firearms increases, officials said.

"These guys do a cost-analysis thing," Ivey said. "And if the price of getting caught with a gun is relatively low -- they are not looking at any kind of jail sentence -- their concerns about getting caught can be outweighed by what they think are the benefits of carrying: sometimes to commit crimes, sometimes for status, sometimes for peer pressure."

To reduce gun crimes, some communities such as the District have instituted gun buyback programs, in which owners are paid to turn over guns. Prince George's, Baltimore and Richmond have handed over repeat gun offenders to federal court, where they often receive stiffer sentences and out-of-state prison time. Ivey asked judges last year to order a mandatory one-year jail sentence for anyone convicted of illegal possession of a handgun, even first-time offenders.

Herron said the answer is not only to impose strict penalties but also to encourage the community to turn in offenders. Fulwood said parents, too, need to be involved.

"If my son has a gun and he's living in my house, at some point I should know because I should be looking around," he said. "I guarantee you if the kids have guns, they have them in their homes."

Sandra Sneed said she does not think her son was involved with guns. Even as she mourned him, she bemoaned the gun violence that is taking so many young black men's lives.

"They were both so young," she said of her son and Johnson. "What could happen that would lead somebody to do this? Nothing could have been that bad."

Staff researchers Rena Kirsch and Meg Smith contributed to this report.