Jaylen Prince, a teenager convicted of shooting and killing a classmate inside a Maryland high school in 2024, will be sentenced on Tuesday.
Prince was found guilty of first-degree murder for the death of 15-year-old Warren Grant at Joppatowne High School in Harford County on September 6, 2024. The jury reached its verdict in May after about three hours of deliberation.
The Trial
According to police, Prince pulled a gun from his backpack and shot Grant during a fight inside a school bathroom.
Prince showed little emotion when the verdict was read, though several people in the gallery and some jurors were visibly emotional.
The eight-day trial featured testimony from classmates, law enforcement officers, and Prince’s mother. Prince also took the stand on May 28 to testify in his own defense.
Prince Testifies in His Defense
Prince claimed that Grant was the aggressor, saying Grant confronted him over his girlfriend.
He told the jury, “My hand is broke. I ain’t fighting nobody,” referring to a prior injury that had required emergency surgery.
Prince said he warned Grant, “If you touch me, I will kill you,” and pulled the gun from his backpack to scare him and other students. He claimed the gun went off accidentally after Grant shook him.
“I did not fire the gun. It accidentally went off,” Prince testified.
Prosecutors Say Prince Was the Aggressor
Prosecutors argued that video evidence shared by a witness showed Prince as the aggressor, threatening to kill Grant four times.
Witnesses testified they saw Prince grab the gun from his backpack, cock it, and shoot Grant before running away and discarding the weapon, which was never recovered.
Prince said he bought the gun for protection because he “was afraid of a lot of places” after losing at least five friends to gun violence.
An expert testified that photos on Prince’s phone matched the gun used in the shooting, as well as the bullets recovered from Grant’s body.
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