Bail denied for 17-year-old charged in fatal shooting of Prince George’s Co. student
The teenage boy is charged as an adult in the death of 16-year-old Jayda Medrano-Moore, of Greenbelt, on Sept. 11 outside DuVal High School in Lanham.
During a bond hearing Monday, a judge denied the teen bail and ordered him to be held at the Prince George’s County Detention Center.
Prosecutor William Porter argued that the boy, a student at Charles Herbert Flowers High School in Springdale, Maryland, decided to “get in his car with a group of his friends and go to another school with a firearm,” where they got into a fight with another group of students.
The teenage boy pulled a gun, and when confronted by Medrano-Moore, who tried to intervene because her little brother was involved in the altercation, “decided that he would pistol-whip that young lady, hit her with a gun, and then after he pistol-whipped, put that gun to her head,” Porter told the judge.
“He did not want that young girl to walk away from this incident,” Porter said.
Defense attorney: Not a predator
Christian Gabriel, the boy’s lawyer, argued that the teenager was a “fine gentleman” from a “fine family,” and he did not have any criminal involvement before the shooting.
In arguing for bail, the defense said he would benefit from home detention that would allow him to continue his education.
“He is not somebody who comes here in the posture of a predator,” Gabriel said, adding that the boy has ties to the community, where he was born, and he is not a flight risk.
The prosecutor argued that the boy is facing first-degree murder and other serious charges that carry lengthy sentences and said that he was an “extreme danger to this community.” The judge agreed and denied him bail.
Outside the courthouse, Gabriel said his client’s family is torn up by what happened, and they have written a letter to Medrano-Moore’s family expressing their condolences.
“We’re really sorry this happened,” Gabriel said.
Fight sparked by ‘petty beef’ before fatal shooting
Prince George’s County police Chief Malik Aziz said in a news conference announcing the arrest that the fight between the students stemmed from what he called a “petty beef,” between a group of students from DuVal and another group who attended Charles Herbert Flowers High School in Springdale.
Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks called Medrano-Moore at “a star” in her school and the community. “And on the day of this incident, she was a star yet again and gave her life there trying to defuse this particular incident.”
In the wake of the shooting, school officials installed new metal and weapons detectors at the entrance to the school.
WTOP’s Jack Moore contributed to this report.