A Washington, DC, mother handed her 12-year-old son over to police Wednesday, as he is suspected of an attempted carjacking that left his 13-year-old accomplice dead.
The woman called police on October 31 after recognizing her son in a picture shared online by law enforcement, reported the Daily Mail. The boy, who has not been publicly identified, was processed in a juvenile court later that day.
His alleged accomplice, Vernard Toney Jr., was fatally shot by an off-duty federal security officer when the two boys attempted to carjack him, police said.
The incident occurred at the intersection of 6 and D streets, in the corridor of the U.S. Attorney’s office, the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, and the D.C. Courthouse, according to FOX5.
Authorities believe Toney opened the passenger-side door and entered the vehicle and that the unnamed 12-year-old opened the driver-side door and told the officer to “Get the [expletive] out.”
“You know what this is,” the boy said, according to the off-duty officer, who told police that the boy appeared to have a gun in his pocket, causing the officer to respond by opening fire with his own weapon.
Toney, a seventh grader, was shot during the incident, and the 12-year-old ran away.
The gunshot proved fatal for the 13-year-old, who was pronounced dead at the hospital later that night. No guns were found in his possession.
“He was arrested in May in connection with several such crimes that occurred in Southeast DC,” the Daily Mail noted, adding that his school principal described the late boy as “a smart and talented student.”
“(Toney) was known to the Metropolitan Police Department, and it’s just unfortunate that this particular incident happened on Saturday night that caused him to no longer be here,” said Acting Chief of Police Pamela Smith.
Toney’s principal also spoke of his “natural comedic ability” and love of making people laugh, “especially when he would joke that he was the principal of Kelly Miller MS. Vernard also loved to play basketball and spend his free time on the court with his friends.”
“This is a really, really poor report,” the magistrate judge said Wednesday after reviewing the 12-year-old’s history, which includes a list of serious behavioral issues.
She was notified that he had been smoking marijuana since he was 11, and he had severe anger-management problems.
The mother who turned the troubled pre-teen in said that she had previously contacted a local hospital to help her son’s issues so as to prevent this sort of violent event from occurring.
The boy is being held at the city’s Youth Services Center, a juvenile detention facility, until at least Monday, when he is due back in court.
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