Baltimore police seek women seen in Federal Hill homicide video

Baltimore police are asking for help identifying a group of women seen in video tied to the fatal shooting that rattled Key Highway and added new urgency to safety concerns in Federal Hill after dark.

Officers were called about 2:40 a.m. April 5 to the 200 block of Key Highway, where they found a man suffering from gunshot wounds. Baltimore police later identified him as 40-year-old Brandon Long Sr. Detectives said the shooting happened after a dispute, and the investigation remained active as police released footage of women they want the public to identify.

The video release suggests detectives believe the women may be important witnesses, or may have been close enough to the confrontation to help reconstruct what happened in the moments before and after the shooting. Police also said they were searching for two suspects believed to have been involved in the killing, underscoring that investigators were still piecing together the full sequence of events around one of South Baltimore’s busiest corridors.

Police arrested 27-year-old Travion Lemon of Baltimore County on April 14 in connection with Long’s death. Lemon is expected to face charges of first-degree murder, assault and handgun violations, according to police.

The case has carried extra weight in Federal Hill, a neighborhood south of the Inner Harbor that blends dense housing, restaurants and late-night traffic with one of Baltimore’s most visible residential and entertainment districts. City preservation records describe the Federal Hill South Historic District as an area of roughly 30 blocks and 1,000 buildings, part of a waterfront landscape that grew out of the Inner Harbor redevelopment era and sits close to the Patapsco River.

That mix of nightlife and neighborhood living has made violent crime a persistent worry. Ian Neuman, president of the Federal Hill Neighborhood Patrol, said crime numbers had dropped by 41% in some parts of Federal Hill since private security was hired, but he added that "things down on that part of the neighborhood have been bad for years." A community meeting on violent crime later drew dozens of residents pressing city officials for answers.

Homicide detectives are asking anyone with information to call 410-396-2100 or Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7Lockup. For a corridor that serves both residents and late-night patrons, the Key Highway case has become another stark reminder of how quickly a dispute can turn deadly in Federal Hill.