A grand jury has indicted four Baltimore teenagers accused of killing a Baltimore County police officer. In a statement, the Baltimore County State's Attorney's office said the Officer Amy Caprio died May 21 while responding to a report of a suspicious vehicle in the suburb of Perry Hall.
Police accused 16-year-old Dawnta Harris of running her down in the stolen car as she tried to apprehend him. The state was formally supervising Harris, who was wearing an ankle bracelet pending sentencing for auto theft when he was arrested in Caprio's death.
Also facing first degree murder abs burglary charges are Darrell Ward, Derrick Matthews, Eugene Genius--Harris' three alleged accomplices. They were allegedly committing a burglary in a nearby home when Caprio was run down on the street. Under the state's felony murder law, if someone is killed during a burglary, accomplices can also be prosecuted in the slaying. All four teenagers involved are now charged as adults and being held in an adult lockup.
Prosecutors allege Caprio's body camera recorded Harris accelerating the Jeep at the officer as she tried to apprehend him. Defense attorneys for Harris, Warren Brown and J. Wyndal Gordon have asked that police and prosecutors to release the footage from Caprio’s body worn camera so that , has argued that the state agency tasked with managing and treating youngsters like his client clearly dropped the ball.
In the days following the policewoman's killing, some authorities in Maryland blamed each other for having put Harris on home arrest while he awaited sentencing for auto theft.