6 men indicted in July death of Pasadena teen

Three months after Anne Arundel County prosecutors dropped murder charges against four white men in the fatal beating of a black teenager last summer, a grand jury yesterday indicted the men - and two others - on manslaughter and other counts stemming from the July brawl. Anne Arundel County State's Attorney Frank R. Weathersbee announced last night that identical indictments had been returned against the six in the death of Noah Jamahl Jones, 17, of Pasadena. All surrendered to police last night and were arrested. The charges brought both disappointment and relief to Robin Jones, the victim's mother. She said "a weight has been lifted off" her family, although she had wanted the grand jury to reinstate the first-degree murder charges and add a hate-crime charge. "It's not what I was hoping for. I was happier when it was first-degree murder because I do believe that it was premeditated," she said. But, she said, she and her family are satisfied with the manslaughter charges and will steel themselves for what they expect will be an emotional trial. The case spurred a federal civil rights probe and led to escalating racial tensions in the Pasadena section of Anne Arundel County. [more]