1 teen indicted, 1 charged in deadly Germantown recreation center shooting
GERMANTOWN, Md. - One teenager has been indicted and a second teenager has been charged for their role in a shooting at a Germantown recreation center that killed one man and injured three other people.
Shilen Wylie, 14, was indicted on charges including first-degree murder and three counts of attempted first-degree murder in the shooting that killed 20-year-old Axel Trejos.
In addition, Montgomery County police on Thursday arrested 17-year-old Samuel Lee Powers in connection with the shooting.
Powers was first-degree murder and three counts conspiracy to commit murder for his alleged role in the shooting on a basketball court at the Plum Gar Community Center on Scenery Drive.
Investigators say one of Wylie’s friends was fighting with the victims when Powers told him to shoot them.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: 3 juveniles, 1 adult shot at Germantown recreation center, police say
Trejos died after being taken to a local hospital. Police have not specified the severity of the other victims’ injuries.
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Powers has also been jailed without bail.
Both suspects have been charged as adults - which may surprise some people in the D.C. area.
Montgomery County prosecutors say, however, it's simply a product of Maryland law.
"You must be charged as an adult initially. It’s a requirement in Maryland. I don’t have any digression over that. That’s a legislative meeting. That despite the fact that there’s been lots of changes of how we handle juveniles in Maryland, that was not changed in the last legislative session," said Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy.
In Maryland, in some cases, juveniles can be charged as an adult first – but the juvenile can then petition to be transferred to juvenile court, where their case is no longer public.