45-DAY SUSPENSION FOR FAILURE TO FOLLOW ORDERS
PRECEDED TRANSSEXUAL ENCOUNTER BY FOUR WEEKS

By Stephen Janis

A Baltimore City firefighter who has been charged with first-degree assault for allegedly attacking a transsexual was suspended for 45 days for insubordination a month before the alleged incident occurred that led to county police filing assault charges against him.

The suspension was one of a series of disciplinary actions that have plagued firefighter Jerry Majette’s tenure with the department, fire officials said.

However, despite a series of reprimands, including termination, Majette has managed to keep his job until now.

According to Baltimore City Fire Department sources who did not wish to be identified, Majette served out the 45-day suspension — which resulted from failing to obey orders — between June 11 and July 23. The suspension was one of several instances in which Majette was either disciplined or reprimanded by his superiors.

FOUR WEEKEND SLAYINGS
BRING 2010 TOTAL TO 139

By Stephen Janis

A series of bloody weekends and a shooting victim who recently succumbed to gunshot wounds inflicted two months ago has brought this year’s homicide rate even with last year.

The death of Dante Carter, who was shot in June, brought this year’s homicide total to 139, the same number of homicides the city had recorded by August 11, 2009.

Last year the city notched homicide number 140 on August 20.

Carter’s death this past week along with four slayings over the weekend has all but erased the drop in homicides touted by city officials earlier in 2010.

ACCOUNTS DIFFER AS TO WHO ACCOSTED WHOM
The unanswered question is: Who got hammered?

By Stephen Janis

Depending on which one you believe, Baltimore City firefighter Jerry Majette was either an innocent bystander who got robbed by a Baltimore County transsexual, or the assailant himself who attacked the soon-to-be woman with a hammer after he found her gender ambiguity unappealing.

For now, police believe the woman’s account that Majette pulled a hammer from the transsexual's closet and attacked her after he discovered that she was not a fully functional female, and have since charged Majette with first-degree assault and robbery.

The firefighter has been suspended by the Baltimore City Fire Department.

For his part, Majette, along with firefighter union officials, says he should not be suspended from the department over allegations that have yet to be heard in court.