'Horrific': Teen accused of killing 15-year-old girl, her 9-year-old brother in Baltimore, officials say
A teenager was arrested Wednesday in connection with the fatal shooting of siblings inside their home in a suburb of Baltimore County.
Keith Maurice James Jr., 16, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of use of a firearm in a crime of violence as an adult in the July 7 shooting deaths of 9-year-old Steve Allen and his 15-year-old sister, Giovanna Myrie, inside their Gwynn Oak house, police said. The children's mother found them dead and called 9-1-1, according to the criminal complaint.
Baltimore County Police Chief Robert McCullough said Wednesday investigators discovered that James was inside the house previously, and the criminal complaint alleges the suspect was hanging out with Myrie inside the house with a gun in the days leading up to the killings.
"When you consider how horrific this crime was carried out, it was terrible. When you reflect on the fact that a child who had just turned 16 carried out this crime and did it in the manner he did, it's troubling," McCullough told reporters at a news conference.
Investigators said they spoke with witnesses and used cell phone and surveillance footage to identify James as the suspect.
A friend of Myrie told police that allegedly the 15-year-old victim had begun having video chats with a boy named "Keith" a few weeks before the shooting, the criminal complaint said.
McCullough could not give specifics about the nature of the alleged relationship between Giovanna and the suspect.
"We need to make sure we know who our kids are associating with. The final issue is dating violence, teen violence between people who have relationships. We need to be mindful of those things," he told reporters.
The unidentified friend said that "Keith" visited Myrie's house on July Fourth, according to investigators. During that visit, Myrie video-called the friend, who saw "Keith" allegedly with her in her bed with a handgun in his hand, the criminal complaint said.
Myrie allegedly texted the friend and claimed the boy threatened to kill her if she "messed around with any other guys," the criminal complaint said. Investigators allegedly found text messages on Myrie's tablet from James that echoed the threat, according to the complaint.
Investigators allege that James' cell phone location data pinged him close to the house around the time the murders took place.
Police also allege that surveillance footage showed James take a bus to the house before the killings and leave the scene on a bus.
"It took longer than I wanted it to; however, we had to make sure that we put together a very airtight case considering the age of the suspect in this case," McCullough said.
James is currently being held in jail without bail. Attorney information wasn't immediately available.
