

Codi Wilson, CP24.com





Two people have been charged with second-degree murder in the beating death of an American man outside a bar in Little Italy last weekend.

At a news conference Thursday, Det.- Sgt. Gary Giroux told reporters that two men were arrested on Wednesday morning in connection with the death of 26-year-old Baltimore resident Julian Jones.

Jones was beaten to death outside a bar in Little Italy early Saturday morning in what police have called an “unprovoked attack.”

Police said Jones and eight of his friends were at Blnd Tger, located near College Street and Manning Avenue, celebrating a bachelor party in the city when some type of altercation broke out outside the bar at around 2:30 a.m.

“There’s a confrontation on Manning Avenue on the south side of College Street but Mr. Jones and his friends are not the aggressors,” Giroux told reporters.

“The deceased was separated and he was in a helpless position on the ground.”

Police said Jones was punched and repeatedly kicked in the head during the deadly assault.

The victim’s friends also sustained facial injuries during the altercation, Giroux added .

Giroux said the two suspects arrested Wednesday were identified by officers who recognized them from photos taken on the night of the attack.

“We had images of who they were and we distributed those images to police officers and they were identified to us,” he added.

A third suspect, who police have identified as a white male who is approximately 26 or 27 years old, is still outstanding, investigators said.

Police also said there are looking for several other people who were with the suspects at the time of the assault.

Giroux said a key piece of evidence in the case is cellphone video taken by a friend of the victim. Police did not say what exactly the friend was filming.

To protect the integrity of the investigation, Giroux said police will not be releasing video or photos of the suspects.

“We want witnesses such as patrons and security staff to look at the video and to narrate it,” he said.

“We want them to look at it and say, ‘Ok this is the individual we saw kicking. This is the individual we saw stomping.’ And we don’t want it to be compromised by the release of photographs to the general public.”

Although the friends who were with Jones on the night of the attack have gone back to the United States, Giroux said investigators may travel to Baltimore to get them to look through some of the video footage investigators have obtained.

Jones' father 'comforted' by arrests: police

On Wednesday night, Giroux said investigators reached out to Jones’ father to notify him that arrests had been made in the case.

“He took a lot of comfort in knowing that people had been apprehended for what had happened to his son,” Giroux said.

Speaking at a candlelight vigil in Baltimore on Wednesday night, Jones' father Tobias said it is important that the suspects are brought to justice.

"We need to get these people off the streets because they are going to kill (Canadian) citizens also," he said.

Jones' father called the vigil held in memory of his son "beautiful."

"It helps uplift our spirits. I feel like we are doing everything in honour of my son’s spirit right now. It’s just beautiful," he said.

"He just had this thing about him. I taught him a lot of stuff. He has definitely surpassed me."

The two suspects, identified by police as 24-year-old Kamari Folkes and 25-year-old Kenneth Omorogbe, appeared in court at Old City Hall on Thursday. Both men were remanded into custody and are scheduled to make another court appearance via video link on Nov. 22.