'Bum-stomping' involves teenager

BALTIMORE -- A teenager pleaded guilty to murdering a homeless man during a 2001 beating spree that prosecutors say was an effort by him and his friends to "clean up" their Baltimore neighborhood.

Daniel Ennis, 18, was one of three charged in the death of Gerald Joseph Holle, a 55-year-old transient.

Ennis' guilty plea Tuesday was related to a series of attacks on homeless men in 2001.

The teenagers were charged after they bragged about the attacks that they called "bum stomping," according to prosecutor Michelle Grunwell.

Grunwell said the teenagers intended to clean up the South Baltimore neighborhood by beating homeless men until they died or left the area.

Michael Farmer, 20, pleaded guilty last year to first-degree murder in Holle's death, as well as the bludgeoning death of George Williams, 46.

Farmer will be sentenced after he testifies against the third man charged in Holle's death, Harold "Jay" Waterbury, 19. Waterbury is also charged in the fatal beatings of Williams and another homeless man, Harry Lawhorn, 47. His trial is scheduled for Aug. 5.

The three used baseball bats, a crowbar, a steel pole and wooden sticks in their attacks, Grunwell said.