‘I did not fire the gun': Alleged Maryland high school shooter testifies in murder trial
BALTIMORE — Jaylen Prince testified in his own defense Wednesday in Harford County Circuit Court, saying he did not intentionally shoot and kill fellow Joppatowne High School student Warren Grant.
Prince, 16, is charged with first-degree murder in the September shooting death of 15-year-old Grant inside a high school bathroom. Prince testified that the gun went off because Grant 'shook' him.
'I did not kill him,' Prince said. 'I did not fire the gun. It accidentally went off.'
Harford County State's Attorney Alison Healey cross-examined Prince, asking him why he had a gun inside the school. Prince testified that he routinely carried the gun because he was scared and because he did not want to leave it at home where his mother or younger siblings could find it.
He said carrying the gun was the 'only way' he felt he could protect himself, and that he had lost many friends to gun violence.
Healey showed numerous images of Prince holding guns. Investigators found the photos on Prince's cellphone. In one, Prince is pictured inside a relative's home with the Polymer 80 handgun he purchased in August. Healey used the image to contradict Prince's claim that he would only carry a gun when he felt unsafe by emphasizing that he often had a handgun in 'safe' environments.
Prince testified that he and Grant began arguing in the bathroom after a misunderstanding about Grant's girlfriend. He said he didn't know Grant was in the bathroom until Grant 'blew smoke' into his face and 'kept getting closer,' trying to fight Prince.
'I told him I would kill him to get him to stop,' Prince testified. 'I didn't mean it.'
Prince testified that he became 'frantic' when Grant's friends began to 'surround him.' In a cellphone video of the incident, Prince can be seen with his back to the entrance of the bathroom yelling in Grant's face with one of Grant's friends between him and Grant.
Healey asked Prince, if he was scared of Grant, why would he yell in his face?
'That's a scare tactic,' Prince responded.
In the video, Prince tells Grant that he would not fight him because his hand is broken — referring to an injury to his right index finger he sustained about a year earlier.
Prince testified that as Grant 'kept getting closer,' he drew the gun as another means of scaring him into backing away. The gun, Prince said, was in his right hand.
Prince's mother testified Tuesday that Prince's right index finger does not have full mobility since it was broken. Prince's defense attorney, Stacey Pipkin, physically recreated the scene in the bathroom, demonstrating how Grant allegedly shook Prince by his shoulders, prompting the gun to point from Prince's waist area toward Grant's chest before going off.
'I could not believe it happened,' Prince testified. 'I panicked and ran out of the bathroom.'
Prince underwent several hours of questioning from both the defense and prosecution after which the defense rested its case.
Closing arguments are expected to begin at 9 a.m. Thursday, after which jury deliberations will begin.
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