The 17-year-old who police say told a younger teen to open fire on a group of young men during a basketball game at a Montgomery County, Maryland, recreation center last month has been indicted by a grand jury on first-degree murder charges.
Samuel Lee Powers, 17, turned himself into police Sept. 1 and had been ordered held without bond after an initial appearance last week.
The grand jury returned the murder indictment against Powers on Thursday, according to Lauren DeMarco, a spokeswoman for the office of Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy. Powers was also indicted on three counts of attempted first-degree murder.
Police said there was some kind of confrontation during the basketball game at the Germantown Plum Gar Community Recreation Center on Aug. 18, before Powers ordered 14-year-old Shilen Ahmadi Wylie to shoot at a group of young men.
Axel Trejos, 20, was killed and three teens — ages 16, 15 and 13 — were wounded in the shooting.
Police said they later recovered a 9 mm handgun from Wylie when he was stopped by police near the scene.
Wylie has already been indicted on first-degree murder and attempted murder charges. For now, he is being tried as an adult. A hearing to determine whether Wylie will remain charged as an adult or have his case transferred to juvenile court is set for Dec. 22 and Dec. 23, according to the state’s attorney’s office.
Authorities later said it was the first killing in the county carried out with a “ghost gun” — a term used to describe guns that don’t have serial numbers and can be assembled from parts at home with kits.
