Posted on 07/27/23
| News Source: WBAL TV
The jury reached a verdict Thursday morning in the trial of a squeegee worker charged in a man's killing.
After a tense and emotional trial and 12 hours of deliberations across three different days, the jury convicted Tavon Scott, 16, on voluntary manslaughter and two handgun charges. The maximum sentence for the three charges is 35 years in prison.
Timothy Reynolds, 48, was shot five times after confronting a group of squeegee workers with a bat. Three of the shots were to the back as he walked away, and the state argued premeditated first-degree murder. Scott's lawyers focused on his age -- 14 at the time -- and said whoever did the shooting did it in self-defense.
The jury unanimously decided the defendant is not guilty of first- and second-degree murder.
When asked, defense attorney Warren Brown said outside court that he "absolutely" considers the verdict a victory for his side.
"Bottom line is we're not as happy as we would've been if he had not been found guilty of voluntary manslaughter. We're elated that he was not found guilty of murder one or murder two," Brown said.
The defense is planning an appeal and planning a push to move the case to juvenile court for sentencing.
"He avoided the first- and second-degree murder convictions. He has been convicted of manslaughter, which makes him eligible to be transferred to juvenile court, which is what we are going to be pursuing," Brown said. "They they found that there was some justification for what he did. It was just maybe he overreacted. He didn't need to go that far. But they understood why he did what he did."
Brown said the defense is preparing to present reports detailing the teen's mindset.
"We're optimistic that when we come back and we put before the judge this 60-page report delving into his psychological mindset and his background and to prospects for the future, the programs that juvenile (services) made available to him, that we will find ourselves quite pleased with the way the disposition unfolds when that is scheduled," Brown said.
Reynolds' loved ones were visibly emotional as they left the courthouse, standing together as attorney Thiru Vignarajah spoke on their behalf.
"He's been held accountable in adult court for the crime that he committed. All of those efforts by the defense counsel suggests that it was someone else, that didn't fly. At the same time, we know that there were a lot of perspectives that the jury must have shared. It does look like this was a consensus verdict of a jury that brought a lot of different perspectives to bear on this set of facts," he said. "We believe the facts supported first-degree or second-degree murder, but you have to respect the process. You have to respect the fact that the jury has reached a consensus, that this is the man that killed him, and he's going to be held accountable for that."
"The outcome of this case does not change the trauma that has been inflicted across the board by the events that took place in July of 2022," Baltimore City State's Attorney Ivan Bates said in a statement. "A man will never return home to his family, and a young person now faces decades of incarceration. I thank my homicide division, Baltimore police and our Victim Witness Division for working together to see this difficult case through."
The defendant elected not to testify in his own defense, as is his constitutional right, and the defense did not put on a case. The state has the burden of proof, and the jury was tasked with deciding whether that burden was met.
Scott's family said through a spokesperson: "This is clearly a heart-wrenching case on both sides and our condolences go out to the Reynolds family. There was tension and tears in the courtroom leading up to the verdict, but the family is thankful for the jury's very-close review."