Maryland man fatally stabbed teen in self-defense during gang assault, prosecutor says

CBS News

10 hours ago

A Maryland man who fatally stabbed a 14-year-old acted in self-defense while being attacked by a group of people linked to a local gang, according to the county state's attorney's office.
The deadly stabbing occurred as the man, identified as Ty, was being assaulted by a group of nine people who Elkton Police said are part of a local gang. A drug debt that Ty was meant to pay back led to the attack, according to officials.
The stabbing on July 18 killed 14-year-old Jordan Collins of Hollingsworth Manor.
Elkton police said they were called to investigate the stabbing after Collins was dropped off at Union Hospital in the bed of a pickup truck by four people who immediately left the area.
After being identified by police, the four individuals told officers they did not know how Collins was stabbed. However, one of the individuals provided police with a possible location of the crime scene in the Hollingsworth Manor neighborhood.
Police said they canvassed the area and found blood on the roadway along with a piece of a wooden two-by-four that also had blood on it.
The individuals then told police the person who stabbed Collins was a man named Ty. Officers learned that Ty was physically disabled with an amputated left arm.
Police reviewed surveillance footage from the neighborhood, which showed that a group of nine people followed Ty and engaged in a confrontation. Collins was seen initiating the confrontation by assaulting Ty, police said.
Collins and the other individuals then pursued and attacked Ty, using objects like a shovel and a two-by-four to assault him, according to officers.
The video showed that Collins took the two-by-four and ran toward Ty after another person used a shovel to hit Ty several times.
Witnesses notified police that there was another assault at a Wawa on Pulaski Highway, and video from the store showed that Ty was accosted by three women who refused to let him leave.
When Ty left the store, the women followed him. Shortly after, an SUV pulled up and two men got out and accosted Ty, police said.
"At no point in the footage did Ty stab or assault any of the females or males. The three females were deemed the aggressors," Elkton Police Detective Christian Mlodzianowski said.
Police were able to identify the three women, who were also seen in the Hollingsworth Manor video. One of the women engaged in the assault on Ty, while the other two watched and did not attempt to stop it, Mlodzianowski said.
According to officials, Collins was the only juvenile among the group during the attack.
"Jordan's death is the direct result of reckless choices and disregard for the law by several adults in the events leading up to that night," said Elkton Police Chief Carolyn Rogers.
The stabbing of Collins was deemed self-defense under Maryland law, as Ty attempted to leave the area, de-escalate the situation and did not initiate the conflict, according to Cecil County State's Attorney James Dellmyer.
"He properly used self-defense by arming himself with a pocket knife. One stab caused the death of Jordan Collins," Dellmyer said. "It occurred while Ty attempted to get out of the situation."
"Therefore, my office has declined prosecution against Ty for any of his conduct as he acted in perfect self-defense," Dellmyer added.
According to Dellmyer, Ty said he did not want to press charges against the individuals who attacked him.
However, days after the assault, Dellmyer said there were retaliatory attempts toward Ty, Dellmyer said. As a result, three people were indicted — Xavier Santana, Bobbie Perkins and Timothy Dickerson — for manufacturing a destructive device, a Molotov cocktail.