A teenage squeegee worker has been found guilty of voluntary manslaughter and two gun charges Thursday for fatally shooting a man in downtown Baltimore, last summer.
Timothy Reynolds, 48 was shot multiple times after he confronted a group of squeegee workers while wielding a baseball bat. The teen, who was 14 at the time of the shooting, will be sentenced at a later date.
Jurors reached their verdict after 13 hours of deliberations. Voluntary manslaughter was the lesser of the three murder charges the teen faced. Jurors also considered first-degree and second-degree murder charges.
Jurors announced the following verdicts:
With eyes closed, fingers crossed, and deep breaths, both families steeled themselves as they awaited the jury’s verdict in a packed room at the Clarence Mitchell Jr, courthouse.
The Reynolds family shared their reaction through their spokesperson, Thiru Vignarajah. “The person who was responsible for his murder has been convicted of killing him. And that brings a small measure of closure and justice to this family, which is what they've always wanted,” Vignarajah said.
Attorney and family spokeswoman, Derede McAlpin, said the teen’s family is experiencing mixed emotions after hearing the verdict. “There is disappointment because they were hoping for an acquittal across the board,” said McAlpin. ”The family is disappointed with a voluntary finding, but they're also thankful for the hard work of the jury.”
Warren Brown, defense attorney, said he considered the verdict a victory. “When you're facing life imprisonment; then now you’re facing ten years and the jury said we kinda understand what he did, that's why we didn't find guilty of murder one or murder two. Yeah, we definitely feel good.”
Brown said he plans to file a motion to have the defendant sentenced in juvenile court, so the case would eventually be eligible for expungement.
Ivan Bates, state’s attorney, shared his reaction here.
Prosecution’s case:
According to the prosecution, the defendant leaned into Reynolds car on July 7, 2022. Assistant State's Attorney, Cynthia Banks told jurors that the defendant said something that infuriated Reynolds so much, he parked his car and approached the group of squeegee workers with a baseball bat. Upon realizing he was outnumbered, Reynolds walked away.
“He let it go,” Banks said during closing arguments on Monday. “But the defendant and company didn’t let it go. Reynolds was struck by a rock. He was dazed and confused. He swung, but he didn’t hit anybody. All this for what? A swing and a miss?”
You can read more of the prosecution’s case below:
Defense case:
Defense attorneys, Warren Brown and J. Wyndal Gordon, are representing the teen pro bono.
Throughout the trial, they have maintained a simultaneous defense saying the teen defended himself and others if he was the shooter. The mysterious shooter had no other choice but to protect himself and others, when Reynolds swung his bat, according to defense attorneys.
“It was a tense, rapidly-evolving situation,“ said Gordon.
The defendant exercised his right not to testify. The defense did not call any witnesses to the stand. Instead they poked holes in the prosecution, who had the burden of proof. Besides villainizing Reynolds, the defense called the video footage (bodycam from responding officers and dashcam from an eyewitness) which the prosecution relied on heavily to make their case, ‘grainy’.
The defense also called the Baltimore Police Department ‘sloppy’ for assigning “inexperienced” investigators to the case. During cross-examination, homicide detectives admitted that key pieces of evidence such as DNA on a blue bandana — that was wrapped on the handgrip of the Polymer80 — had not been tested.
