A 97-year-old vet is murdered in his pajamas as Baltimore struggles to contain the killings

By Peter Hermann August 8 at 8:53 PM



A family photo of Wadell Tate taken about 10 years ago. Last month, the 97-year-old World War II veteran was attacked and killed during a burglary, becoming one of the city’s oldest homicide victims. (Copied by Michael S. Williamson/Family Photo)

BALTIMORE — He was bludgeoned to death in his pajamas inside the two-story rowhouse he’d owned for six decades and refused to leave.

Wadell Tate was 97, making him not only one of Baltimore’s oldest homicide victims in decades but also a symbol of the relentless violence that has claimed 211 lives so far this year.

On Wednesday, Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh (D) is scheduled to announce her plan to tackle the record-setting surge in homicides. ... But whatever the city tries will come too late for Tate, a World War II veteran and retired refinery worker who still took a short walk every day before the July 21 burglary that left him dead.

“You’d think at 97, how much longer does he have to live?” said his daughter, Sylvia Swann, 65, pausing to wipe away tears last week as she and other relatives sorted through Tate’s belongings and prepared to bury him. “They took away his right to die on his own.”
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A photo of Tate during his Army years in the 1940s. (Copied by Michael S. Williamson/Family Photo)
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Peter Hermann covers crime for The Washington Post. Follow @phscoop