A judge Monday sentenced a former teenage squeegee worker to 15 years in prison for killing a bat-wielding man in downtown Baltimore last summer.
WYPR is not naming the 16-year-old, who also faces five years of probation.
In July, a jury found the teen guilty of voluntary manslaughter and firearms offenses for fatally shooting Timothy Reynolds who confronted a group of squeegee workers at the intersection of Conway and Light Street. Reynolds was shot multiple times after he started walking back to his car. Voluntary manslaughter was the lesser of the three murder charges the teen faced. Jurors also considered first-degree and second-degree murder charges.
Warren Brown, a defense attorney representing the teen said the judge made the right call on Monday. “Things turned out quite well for him, going from facing life plus 20 years down to an actual sentence of 15 years,” Brown said outside the courthouse. “Knowing that he's already got one year in, and another two years he'll be right where he is - (the) Youth Detention Center on Greenmount. And so we were happy with the way things turned out considering everything.”
Thiru Vignarajah, an attorney representing the Reynolds family also spoke.
“No sentence is going to bring back Timothy Reynolds, and so no sentence was ever going to be enough,” said Vignarajah. “But the total sentence of 15 years — which was twice the maximum guidelines sentence — and the judge’s decision to keep this convicted killer and validated gang member in the adult system brings some measure of comfort and closure.”
Ivan Bates, states attorney, said that no one won as both families grieved outside of the Clarence Mitchell Jr court. He urged youth who carry illegal handguns to view the case as a lesson.
“No matter what you feel, the foundational piece of the problem was a young person with an illegal handgun,” Bates said. “That was the problem. Hopefully the message is loud and clear, young people, if you're going to grab an illegal handgun and use that illegal handgun, you can, and you will go to prison.”
The teen will continue serving his sentence at the city’s Youth Detention Center.
