Baltimore prosecutors are working to drop first-degree murder charges against a youth and turn him over to juvenile authorities after the boy was mistakenly charged as an adult and held in the city's detention center in connection with a fatal shooting last year.
The boy was 14 when he was arrested Friday. Though that is the minimum age for being charged as an adult in a capital case, Maryland law says the youth must have been 14 at the time of the offense. Channon Goolesby was 13 when he allegedly helped a friend shoot a teenager in the head on a Northwest Baltimore street Jan. 25, 2009.
Somehow, Goolesby, born Oct. 5, 1995, was arrested, handcuffed, booked, seen by a court commissioner and had a hearing before a district court judge without anyone noticing his age or comparing it with the date of the shooting.
His mug shot was taken and charging documents were drawn up by police, making his name public and accusing him of eight crimes, including first- and second-degree murder, assault and possession of a handgun.
Prosecutors say they didn't see the paperwork until his bail review in front of a judge. The youth's public defender also missed the age issue.
If filed against an adult, the charges carry the maximum penalty of death. As a juvenile, Goolesby could be held only until his 21st birthday.
After senior prosecutors reviewed the case, officials said Tuesday that the charges must be dropped and the youth put under the jurisdiction of the state's Department of Juvenile Services. A second suspect, a 20-year-old male, has been arrested and charged with murder, and is named in court documents as the person who pulled the trigger.
"This matter is under review," said Margaret T. Burns, a spokeswoman for the Baltimore state's attorney's office.
Baltimore police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi called the issue "a minor mistake" and said homicide detectives are working with prosecutors to recharge the youth as a juvenile.
"It's a minor classification issue," he said. "It's not like this guy is going to be back on the street."
The chief district judge is on vacation and could not be reached for comment. A judge filling in for him did not return phone calls. Neither did the Office of the Public Defender.
Goolesby lives in the 4400 block of Pall Mall Road in Northwest Baltimore. His guardian, William Booker, who is employed by the city's Department of Public Works, declined to answer questions about the boy or the case.
The youth is the youngest person in Baltimore this year to be implicated in a killing. In March, a 14-year-old boy was charged as an adult with first-degree murder in the killing of a man robbed of $7 and a pack of cigarettes outside a city elementary school. Last year, youths ages 14, 15 and 16 were charged in killings.
The charges in the Goolesby case stem from a shooting near Goolesby's house amid an argument over a girl, according to police. The victim was identified as Juan Johnson, 14, who was shot once in the back of the head.
Police charging documents allege that Goolesby confronted Johnson and that bystanders were urging them to fight. The documents allege that Goolesby passed a .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol to Jason Brooks, 20, who shot Johnson as he was running away.
Brooks of the 2600 block of Loyola Northway was arrested Friday and charged with first-degree murder, assault and use of a handgun in a crime of violence. He is being held without bail at the Baltimore City Detention Center.