Giving him a chance to turn his life around. Update to this story.
The 16-year-old accused of murdering Baltimore County Officer Amy Caprio was referred to as a “one-man crime wave” by the judge who oversaw his bail hearing on Tuesday.
Dawnta Harris’ juvenile criminal history showed that he was no stranger to the criminal justice system, WBAL reported.
On Monday – the same day that Harris fatally struck 29-year-old Baltimore County Police Officer Amy Caprio with a stolen Jeep – he was actually supposed to be under house arrest for a litany of previous motor vehicle theft offenses, Maryland Secretary of Juvenile Services Sam Abed said in a press conference.
According to Abed, Harris’ public defender worked with the Baltimore City State’s Attorney, Marilyn Mosby’s office, and the court to release the teen from custody on May 10, WMAR reported.
The hearing was held without the Juvenile Services Department’s involvement, he added.
“On May 10, there was a detention that the department was not a party to, where the youth was released back to electronic monitoring,” Abed said.
“We said he shouldn’t be in such a program. He needs to be back in detention, but we don’t have the authority in the department to do that alone,” Abed said, according to WBAL.
Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby fired back at Abed during a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, and said she was “more than appalled, disheartened, and perplexed” by his comments.
Mosby alleged that Abed attempted to “shift responsibility away from his department” by placing blame on the prosecutor’s office “for the release of an alleged murderer.”
“I categorically deny the accuracy of the secretary’s statements about the actions taken by both my office and the department,” she said.
She then noted that juvenile matters are bound by “secrecy” laws, which she claimed Abed had violated.