Teen to be tried as adult in shooting

Walls was 17 at time of incident

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Charles County Circuit Court Judge Christopher Henderson on Friday denied the defense’s request that Rayvon Anthony Walls be tried as a juvenile, saying, ‘‘If there’s anybody who qualifies for Patuxent [Institution, a maximum security state prison], it’s this guy.” Walls left the courthouse during a break in the hearing and was not present to hear the judge’s decision.

Walls, 18, and Jamal Lionel Rosier, 16, were charged with attempted second-degree murder, armed robbery and drug possession after the Bel Alton man identified them as his assailants in the March 5 shooting he reported to police. At the time of the incident, Walls was just two months away from his 18th birthday, when he would have been too old for trial as a juvenile.

The Bel Alton man said he met Rosier and Walls to buy cocaine, according to Charles County Sheriff’s Office reports. The man told police the two teens pointed handguns at his head, robbed him of $509 and, as they fled in a Chevrolet Blazer, fired shots into the truck he was driving. The man chased the teens in his truck and collided with the Blazer on Annapolis Woods Road in La Plata, he told police. He said he then drove to a parking lot and called the police, reporting a hit-and-run accident, according to the report.

A forensic psychiatrist testified at Friday’s hearing that Walls would be better suited to treatment in the juvenile system than incarceration in the adult system. Dr. David Williamson said although Walls is physically an adult, he is mentally immature. ‘‘For anybody past 18 [years old], it’s an uphill struggle to convince me they’re the best fit for the juvenile system. So this is a milestone for me,” said the Annapolis psychiatrist.

However, Henderson said since Walls turns 21 in three years, the juvenile system does not have enough time to work significant change.

On July 25, the defense will petition to have Rosier tried as a juvenile.