Man Hit With Stick in Fight at Homeless Camp Dies: Police

A homeless man has been charged with second-degree murder for reportedly hitting another homeless man with a stick during a fight at a camp Tuesday night, according to Anne Arundel County Police. 

Officers were dispatched to a homeless camp in the 7400 block of Baltimore Annapolis Boulevard in Glen Burnie at about 7:39 p.m. Tuesday on a report of an assault. 

The male victim of the attack, Keith Lee Boggs, 46, who has no fixed address, was taken by paramedics to the Baltimore Washington Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead. Evidence indicated that Boggs had sustained trauma to the upper body. 

Witnesses told detectives that an altercation took place in a wooded area in the 7400 block of Baltimore Annapolis Boulevard between the victim and Joseph Eugene Wright, 44, who has no fixed address. During the fight, police say Wright used a stick to strike the victim.

Detectives located Wright in the 200 block of Gloucester Drive in Glen Burnie. He reportedly jumped out of a window when he was police, but was caught after a short chase. 

Wright was charged with second-degree murder and first-degree assault in the death of Keith Boggs. Authorities said Wright also had an outstanding arrest warrant for violation of probation.

The camp is near the site of another homeless camp linked to a 2010 killing in the nearby Cromwell Field Shopping Center, CapitalGazette.com reports. Residents of that camp were forced to relocate following the death of Jimmy Liberto, 43. The man charged in his homicide, Roland Long, was later sentenced to four years.

Police spokesman Lt. T.J. Smith told the newspaper he could not confirm that Tuesday’s attack happened at the same homeless camp, but said that officers had cleared the camp before and were working with other agencies to help the local homeless population.

An autopsy will be conducted on Wednesday at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore.

This investigation continues and detectives urge anyone with information on this case to call Detective Shelly Rattell at 410-222-3458 or Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7LOCKUP.