Jury deliberations to resume Tuesday in trial of teen squeegee worker charged with murder
BALTIMORE - Jurors have been dismissed for the day after deliberating for several hours Monday in the trial of a 16-year-old accused of murdering a man who confronted him and other squeegee workers with a bat near the Inner Harbor last July.
Deliberations will continue Tuesday morning.
WJZ is not naming the defendant due to his age. He was 14 at the time of the incident.
His defense did not present any witnesses and the defendant declined to testify before closing arguments Monday morning.
Defense attorneys argued Timothy Reynolds, who was shot five times including three shots to the back, "was the author of his own death."
The judge repeatedly sustained objections as defense attorney J. Wyndal Gordon tried to discuss Reynolds' tattoos and his character during his closing argument. She called Gordon's line of comments "inflammatory and irrelevant."
At the heart of the case is whether the killing was murder or self-defense.
After an interaction at Conway and Light Streets, Reynolds parked his car, got out a bat, and walked across several lanes of traffic to the squeegee workers. Dash camera video shows him swing his bat at them, but the prosecution said Reynolds never hit them and had begun to walk away when he was shot and killed. "He saw he was outnumbered. He thought better of it," Assistant State's Attorney Cynthia Banks told the jury. "…The defendant re-engaged. He didn't have to."
Banks told the jury, "At 14, he was old enough to know better. At 14, you are old enough to know right from wrong."
She later said, "14 is not a free pass to murder. Age is not a free pass to possess a handgun."
Defense attorneys also questioned why the prosecution did not present the bat to the jury. At one point, Gordon waved an umbrella as he spoke, calling Reynolds' bat "a deadly weapon."
"We're trying to figure out why he did this," fellow defense attorney Warren Brown told the jury. "What motivated him?" He said police "painted all the squeegee kids with the same brush" and failed to do a balanced investigation.
Banks said, "All this for what, a swing and a miss?" She noted if the victim "had stayed in the car, we wouldn't be here" but also said, "He let it go. He was walking away. He backed down. The defendant and company, they didn't let it go."
Representatives of both families told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren outside court that they were hopeful for a just verdict.
Jurors can consider first-degree, or premeditated murder. They can also consider the lesser second-degree murder, which requires no premeditation. And the jury can consider voluntary manslaughter if they believe the defendant was "acting in self defense or defense of others."
The jury was instructed about the legal definition of retreat: The defendant had to do "everything possible to escape."
Banks later told the jury, "You have a duty to retreat, not stand your ground and shoot. This isn't Florida."
Previous Coverage:
- Jury deliberations in murder trial of teenage squeegee worker to start Monday, judge says
- Attorney for squeegee worker charged with murder blasts 'sloppy' police investigation
- Self Defense or Murder? Prosecution, defense at odds in trial of squeegee worker charged in Timothy Reynolds' death
- Trial begins for teen squeegee worker charged as adult in 2022 murder near Inner Harbor
- Trial for teen squeegee worker charged in Timothy Reynolds' death near Inner Harbor to start Monday
- Document: Timothy Reynolds shot 5 times in July encounter with squeegee workers
- Family of Timothy Reynolds speak one year after deadly altercation with squeegee workers
- Family of Timothy Reynolds says 'total miscarriage of justice' if squeegee worker granted plea deal
- State's Attorney Mosby responds to teen squeegee worker's murder case being tried in adult system
- Family of Timothy Reynolds petitions for change of lead prosecutor in teen squeegee murder case
- Attorney of teen squeegee worker charged in Inner Harbor murder 'outraged' by postponed hearing
- Witness describes deadly confrontation between Timothy Reynolds and squeegee worker
