15-year-old charged in squeegee killing
Teen charged with murder in fight with bat-wielding man, 48
Baltimore Police arrested a 15-year-old boy Thursday in connection to last week’s fatal Inner Harbor shooting where a baseball bat-wielding man confronted a group of squeegee workers.
The teen was arrested about 6:35 a.m. at a home in Baltimore County and was charged as an adult with first-degree murder. Detective Vernon Davis, a police spokesman, said the department doesn’t publicly identify minors charged with criminal offenses.
Police Commissioner Michael Harrison in a statement said the teen’s arrest is a sad reminder of the ease with which the city’s youth can get their hands on a gun.
“We all need to continue to work together to address the root causes of violence and to provide resources and alternatives to these young people,” Harrison said. “I hope that today’s arrest brings some closure and peace to the family, friends and loved ones of Timothy Reynolds.”
A dashboard camera video of last week’s shooting obtained by The Baltimore Sun shows a squeegee worker shoot at 48-yearold Timothy Reynolds five times at the intersection of Light and Conway streets.
Reynolds drove through that intersection, parked on the other side of Light Street and emerged from his car with the bat, Harrison said previously. It is still not clear what originally happened to cause Reynolds to get out of his car.
When the video starts, Reynolds had already exited his car with a metal baseball bat, walked across Light Street and confronted the workers.
He can be seen walking away from the intersection, presumably back toward his car, as three squeegee workers follow him. They get near him but another car obstructs the view. Less than a second later, they turn to run as Reynolds starts chas
Officers arrested a 15-year-old boy Thursday. The teen, whom police did not name because he is a minor, was charged as an adult with first-degree murder.
The clash, which happened along the Inner Harbor, drew calls for the city to do more about a concern that many, particularly those who work downtown, had been raising for years. But it also prompted a vocal defense of the youths, who many argue are working for their survival, supporting themselves and families financially amid limited options.
Scott convened the summit, dubbed the “Squeegee Collaborative,” to develop a community-based response and expand on opportunities available to youth. Flanked by a group of young men the mayor said would be sharing their “lived experiences,” he said clearing city corners is not an option.
“This mentality of just moving Black people because they are there is what got Baltimore a consent decree,” Scott said of the federal order currently in place to reform the Baltimore Police Department.
“We have to grow out of that and understand that we will hold people accountable for their bad actions, but we will not go back to re-criminalizing just being Black in Baltimore.”
Participants in the meeting reported hearing from a diverse group of voices that included business leaders, but also the squeegee workers themselves. Joshua Harris, vice president of the Baltimore chapter of the NAACP, said he was pleased to hear discussion about Baltimore’s history and the root causes driving young people to street corners for squeegee work.
Harris said current and former squeegee workers were encouraged to participate and express themselves. He commended the youth for their bravery, speaking to an imposing crowd.
City officials agreed to release a list of meeting participants but had not yet provided one as of Thursday
evening.
“I’m optimistic about this bring the beginning of a comprehensive plan” Harris said.
Lawmakers who were in the room said they shared Harris’ optimism. Democratic Councilman Kristerfer Burnett, who delivered passionate remarks before a Baltimore City Council meeting earlier in the week that called on the city to change the narrative surrounding squeegee workers, said the meeting was “positive.”
“I think they had the right people in the room,” he said, saying the initial meeting focused largely on big-picture issues. “I know a lot of these folks. There’s people who really mean business. I wouldn’t be a part of it if I wasn’t confident something would get done.”
Democratic state Sen. Antonio Hayes, who represents a portion of Baltimore, said about 60 people participated in the event.
“It was productive,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do, and this is just the beginning of the conversation. People were willing to roll their sleeves up.”
Marc Broady, vice president of community affairs at Weller Development and leader of the Port Covington Community Impact Team, said the “emergency situation” has pushed the issue of squeegee workers to the forefront.
“As a group invested in the city, it was important to be part of this,” Broady said. “We’re focusing right now on our guiding principles, what we should build on, what already exists.”
Donte Johnson, general manager of the hotel Revival, participated in Thursday’s summit on behalf of a business that has been an active participant in the city’s squeegee diversion efforts.
In December Scott’s administration announced a squeegee action plan that paired city youth with jobs at participating employers. Revival was among them. Currently, eight former squeegee workers are employed at the Mount Vernon hotel as part of the current “cohorts,” Johnson said.
Johnson said he left the meeting optimistic and emotional. Like Harris, he said he was pleased to hear a deeper discussion about the city’s history and the barriers that exist for young Black men.
There seemed to be an “alignment” among the stakeholders in the room about taking a “compassionate approach,” Johnson said.
“These are not young people roaming street corners,” he said. “These are folks navigating circumstances that are not of their own choosing and just doing the best they can each day to get through.”
Johnson said hard work remains to be done. The barriers that exist for Baltimore’s young people are greater than people realize, and it’s going to take a “massive reeducation” of the broader community to solve the problem, he said.
“I’m hopeful for them, but I recognize employment is not a magic pill,” he said. “There’s so much that happens between waking up every morning and arriving at my doorstep that also needs to be addressed.
“Making $15 an hour is not a magic wand that solves 14, 15 years of structural shortcomings. We all have so much more work to do to support these young people.”