Family of man allegedly killed by 15-year-old squeegee worker feels 'betrayed' by reported plea deal
BALTIMORE -- A 15-year-old squeegee worker accused of shooting and killing 48-year-old Timothy Reynolds during an altercation in downtown Baltimore in July will be offered another plea deal.
It is up to the judge to accept the plea offer this week.
According to our media partners The Baltimore Banner, prosecutors intend to offer the teen a plea deal with a reduced charge. In this plea deal, he would be offered a manslaughter charge in the juvenile courts.
The teen would face a maximum penalty of being detained until turning 21 years old.
Last month, the teen was offered a plea deal of 60 years in prison.
Reynolds—a father of three children—was allegedly shot and killed by a squeegee worker at the intersection of Light and Conway streets in downtown Baltimore on July 7.
Reynolds' family led a press conference Monday morning, pushing for justice and for the police video to be released to the public.
Lawyer Thiru Vignarajah said Reynolds' family "received disturbing news about (State's Attorney) Marilyn Mosby's handling of the prosecution."
Vignarajah and Reynolds' wife Shannon and sister Becky addressed the public for the first time on Monday.
"This is not the way it is supposed to be done," Vignarajah said. "This is an unconscionable betray of your responsibility to stand up for the victims in this case."
Police said there was an initial confrontation between the workers and Reynolds, who parked his car and got out armed with the bat. He was advancing toward the group when he was shot, police said.
The 15-year-old boy faces eight adult, felony charges that could land him in prison for life. The teen rejected a plea deal that would have released him from jail in 60 years if he pleaded guilty.
A hearing is scheduled on Nov. 17 to determine if the 15-year-old will be tried as an adult.
Vignarajah said video shows the teen grab a gun from a bag, return to the scene and he followed Reynolds to his car where he shot him five times, including three times in the back. The lawyer also said Reynolds was disoriented from being struck in the head by rocks.
"We are calling on the police department to release the video," Vignarajah said. "We are calling on the State's Attorney to release the video. The defense has seen it. The Grand Jury has seen it. The detectives and prosecutors have seen it. The public deserves to see the defendant retrieve a bag, put a mask on and follow the victim and fire at him multiple times in the back while he is motionlessly disoriented."
Vignarajah blamed Marilyn Mosby for her handling of the case and offering this plea deal.
He also questioned her motive, seeing that she lost her election to Ivan Bates and will have a federal trial in March for perjury and mortgage fraud.
"We have an unusual circumstance," Vignarajah said. "The State's Attorney for Baltimore City is under federal indictment. Her trial begins next year. She will, in all likelihood, not be a lawyer, and she will certainly not be the State's Attorney."
"It seems clear over these past few weeks, over these past couple of months, that she has abdicated her responsibility to the community, to the system, to the victims."
Mosby's office said in a statement Monday that it stood firmly beside its decision to recommend that the case be tried in the juvenile court system.
"Juvenile court exists for a reason, and our decision is based on all the facts and circumstances pertaining to the actions of a 14-year old minor," the statement said. "Much of the factors that we considered in arriving at our recommendation cannot be discussed publicly due to the fact that the case is open and the defendant is a juvenile."
Vignarajah claimed prosecutors offered the plea deal without consulting the victims.
And, either way, Reynolds' family, does not accept what the prosecutors are offering.
"They have remained quiet, remained private, believing that the process would work, that the wheels of justice would turn in a righteous way," Vignarajah said. "Their faith in that has been betrayed by a State's Attorney who has not even spoken to them and just relaying an offer to the defense that is just laughable."
"She ought to just step down. Her job here is done," Vignarajah said. "She is not doing anything good for the city, for the citizens, for the young people and for the victims. She is just helping herself."
In its statement, the Office of the State's Attorney for Baltimore City contended that its approach is consistent with its "track record in dealing with similar cases, such as last week's Inner Harbor juvenile shooting case, where the court ultimately decided to try the defendant in the adult system despite our recommendation."
"That same process will occur in this case and ultimately the judge will make the decision on where it will be adjudicated," the SAO office said in its statement.
Reynolds' family filed a lawsuit against Baltimore City, saying the deadly shooting "would have been prevented" if Baltimore City leaders had "done their job," according to a press release from the family's attorney.
The lawsuit intends to seek damages from not only Baltimore City but also numerous city leaders.
This is a hard case because this is a young man whose life has been destroyed in ways that we are all sensitive to, but nine months in juvenile custody? That is a joke. That is not time for rehabilitation, not time for him to learn a lesson. That is a signal to everyone in this city that crimes, even murders, have no consequences.
