A Baltimore jury on Thursday returned a ‘voluntary manslaughter’ verdict in the murder trial of a black teen ‘squeegee worker’ who fatally shot a 48-year-old man in the back.
On July 7, 2022, Timothy Reynolds, 48, decided to confront teens who were harassing and extorting motorists stuck in traffic at the Inner Harbor.
A group of ‘youths’ were harassing motorists by squeegeeing their windshields and trying to extort money by using violent force.
The so-called ‘squeegee kids’ have been extorting, beating and threatening motorists for years.
WATCH:
One year after motorist Timothy Reynolds was shot dead at a downtown intersection, a former squeegee kid is preparing to stand trial. The 15-year-old will stand trial for murder on July 17. https://t.co/z3KjjgTm6T pic.twitter.com/u949w72QK0
— FOX Baltimore (@FOXBaltimore) July 7, 2023
Reynolds confronted the ‘teens’ with a baseball bat and that’s when things escalated.
One of the teens retrieved a gun from a backpack, put on a face mask to hide his identity (premeditated) returned to the scene and opened fire on Reynolds as he tried to run away.
The masked 14-year-old teen shot Reynolds five times total – 3 times in the back!
The defense argued the ‘teen’ who was out there ‘just trying to make some money’ was acting in self-defense when he repeatedly shot the victim in the back.
The Baltimore jury considered first-degree murder, second-degree murder, and voluntary manslaughter if they believed the ‘teen’ acted in self-defense.
The jury on Thursday refused to return a murder verdict.
Instead, the killer, who is now 16, was convicted on a voluntary manslaughter charge.
A juror then apologized to the teen killer for convicting him on a voluntary manslaughter charge.
The defendant, who has not been named due to his age, is still facing 35 years in prison.
CBS News reported:
Jurors acquitted a 16-year-old of first and second degree murder but found him guilty of voluntary manslaughter in the death of Timothy Reynolds.
The teen was one of several squeegee workers Reynolds confronted with a bat near the Inner Harbor on July 7, 2022.
WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren reports he is still facing 35 years behind bars unless his attorneys can successfully petition for sentencing as a juvenile.
His lawyers argued he acted in self defense, while prosecutors said the victim was walking away when he was shot and the teenager covered his face when he retrieved a weapon from a backpack near Conway and Light Streets.
Jurors believed the now 16-year-old defendant pulled the trigger and shot Timothy Reynolds but rejected that it was premeditated murder.
Timothy’s sister held up his picture outside of the courthouse.
Timothy Reynolds sister holds up his picture https://t.co/QThQibUZJC @wjz pic.twitter.com/gNzlpQvTxx
— Mike Hellgren (@HellgrenWJZ) July 27, 2023
