Family, friends, and neighbors have not forgotten my mother, Cheryl Noel. They still mourn the loss of such a wonderful person. She was killed by the Baltimore County police in her bedroom on Jan. 21. My brother and I are bent under the weight of terrible grief as this Mother's Day approaches. Those of you who knew her will never forget her, I know. Those of you who didn't know her need to understand that she wasn't a criminal, she wasn't a dangerous person, and that there was something dreadfully wrong with what happened that morning. [continues 68 words]
I used to live in Dundalk but have moved to West Virginia. My parents still live in Dundalk. I've just heard that an Essex man was shot multiple times in the chest and killed by the Baltimore County police because he threatened them with a piece of pipe. Has human life become so cheap in Baltimore County? It would seem that there are so many other ways they could have dealt with this man short of killing him. It should also be remembered that about a year ago Baltimore County police shot and killed an Essex woman standing in her doorway with a knife. Was that necessary? With all of the technology we have today, aren't there nonlethal ways of subduing people? [continues 298 words]
Friends, family seek to protect Noel's reputation Neighbors and friends of Cheryl Noel, the Gray Haven woman who was shot to death by a police officer in January during a drug raid at her house, have banded together in an attempt to protect her character. After reading and seeing media reports about the incident, a close friend of the Noel family and Cheryl's supervisor, Robert Raspi of St. Helena, decided it was time to start a petition. "Cheryl Noel was a great person," Raspi said Monday. "The petition was to let people know that." [continues 530 words]
After reading Jacob Noel's letter ("Shooting was unjustified," March 17 By the People), I cried. Then I read George Karatzas' letter ("Shooting tragic, but police officers can't be blamed"), and it made me furious. How can he say that "[Cheryl] Noel's death is her own fault"? He commends the Baltimore County police - for what? Shooting her three times? Aren't the police trained to shoot without killing? Why was it necessary to shoot her three times when she never fired her gun? [continues 176 words]
On Jan. 21, Baltimore County police served a search warrant on my parents' Del Haven Road home of a type that normal people think is used only against terrorists and drug kingpins. In the process of serving this warrant, a Baltimore County police officer shot my mother, Cheryl Noel, not once, not twice, but three times, killing her in her own bedroom. The Baltimore County police have completed their investigation of the Baltimore County police and have determined that they were justified in killing my mother. Does that even sound right? [continues 439 words]
I understand that Ms. Howle lost a friend ("Raid designed to instill fear cost friend her life," March 3 By the People). My heart goes out to her. First, let me remind her that the police were there on a search warrant for drugs. The police do not go into a house on a whim. You can rest assured that there were many calls to the local precinct about the activities at this location. Also, there was probably some sort of undercover work done prior to the raid. [continues 163 words]
I have been Cheryl Noel's best friend for the last 33 years, and these are my thoughts concerning her unnecessary death on Jan. 21 at the hands of the Baltimore County police ("Woman is shot, killed by police in drug raid," Jan. 27 Eagle): Anyone who knew Cheryl Noel will tell you that she would never have knowingly armed herself against a police officer. She was the most nonviolent person I knew. The officer said that he feared for his life. Mrs. Noel did not intentionally put him in fear. She didn't know it was the police. [continues 138 words]
Her Stepdaughter's 1996 'Suicide' Later Was Ruled Homicide In the early hours Friday, the quiet neighborhood of Gray Haven awoke to gunfire and the booming sounds of a police raid that resulted in the death of a woman well known in the community. Just before 5 a.m., officers from the Baltimore County Police Tactical Unit were serving a search and seizure warrant related to a narcotics investigation at a home in the 8100 block of Del Haven Road when two officers approached the bedroom door on the second floor, according to police spokesman Ofc. Shawn Vinson. [continues 690 words]
A Graceland Park man who was convicted of selling Ecstasy in December received a 22-month sentence last week in U.S. District Court. John Harold Wilson, 28, of Bethlehem Avenue could have gotten a much harsher sentence from U.S District Judge Frederick N. Smalkin but for two factors in his favor. Wilson, a seven-year veteran of the Baltimore City Police Department at the time of his arrest, benefited from cooperating with authorities and by being arrested in December 2000, months before Congress raised the penalties for selling Ecstasy. [continues 313 words]
