BALTIMORE — A young Baltimore man has been sentenced to 40 years in jail for being part of the violent "39 Babies" gang that terrorized north and northeast Baltimore.
The "39 Babies" name refers to ZIP code 21239 - the area around Loch Raven Boulevard - where most of the members live. The gang also called themselves the "GreenTeam," according to a press release from Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown.
Karon Johnson was 19 when he killed 17-year-old London Stuckey, on a December afternoon, in the Lochwood Apartments across from MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital.
Johnson, who's now 23, also pleaded guilty to killing 22-year-old Deonte Henderson, in the Pen Lucy neighborhood in 2020; Perry Wainwright was also shot at in that incident.
That murder led law enforcement to identify the "39 Babies," or "GreenTeam," members.
The gang "created a wave of violence that changed lives and devastated families across communities," said Brown in the press release.
Deonte Henderson's mother was reported as saying during the sentencing hearing:
I wish that no mother or father or parent has to go through this… you don’t understand what I’ve had to go through over the last four years…I can’t go home and I can’t leave without thinking about my son…he was murdered two blocks from my house.
Eleven people were ultimately charged in the gang takedown, and 19 firearms were recovered, along with ammunition and drugs "packaged for street-level distribution."
The gang is accused in eight other attempted murders throughout the city, as well as many shootings.
Along with Johnson, Pierre Briggs - now also 23 years old - was also just sentenced, after pleading guilty to gang-related and gun-related charges.
Johnson is set to serve 40 years in jail, and Briggs is set to serve 15 years (10 without the possibility of parole and five on supervised probation).
Three defendants in this investigation are still awaiting trial.
Brown said in a statement: “I am committed to ensuring Marylanders have the safe neighborhoods they deserve, free from violence and crime. These guilty pleas send a clear message to violent offenders that their time is up.”
