A 16-year-old boy has been charged with allegedly killing his 15-year-old girlfriend and her nine-year-old brother in Baltimore, days after he reportedly threatened to kill the girl if she “messed around with other guys.”
The suspect, Keith Maurice James Jr., is facing two counts of first-degree murder over the July 7 shooting that left Giovanna Myrie and her younger brother, Steve Allen, dead.
Court records said Myrie had shared troubling messages from James with a friend days before the attack.
“Keith said if I cheat he finna put the gun inside me. Help me,” she wrote in a text message.
The friend told investigators that on July 4, Myrie and James were on a FaceTime call while lying in bed, and James was allegedly holding a gun.
On the day of the shooting, Myrie reportedly told the same friend James would visit her home around 4 p.m. Investigators said cellphone records and surveillance cameras placed him near the house at about 4:20 p.m.
At about 7:20 p.m., Myrie’s mother came home and found both children dead with multiple gunshot wounds.
Baltimore County Police Chief Robert McCullough described Allen as an “innocent bystander.”
Police said James admitted he had been dating Myrie for about two months but claimed he had not seen her in person since July 4. He was arrested on Tuesday and appeared in court on Thursday, where his lawyer waived a bond hearing.
Speaking on the case, McCullough said it shows the growing concern over teen dating violence.
“This case highlights for me a couple issues. One is juvenile violence itself, violence by juveniles on other juveniles. It’s just dating violence, teen violence between people who have relationships, so we need to be mindful of those things,” he said.
