New details emerged Wednesday about an attempted carjacking that left a 13-year-old-dead and a 12-year-old in custody.
The 12-year-old made his first appearance Wednesday before a judge, where it was revealed that it was his mother who turned him in to police.
According to testimony from a D.C. police detective, the two suspects, ages 12 and 13, approached a car parked on D Street NW about 10 p.m. Saturday. An off-duty security officer with the U.S. Marshals Service was inside the car.
The detective testified that surveillance video showed the two suspects going to the car as they both put their hands on their waistbands, as if to indicate they both had a weapon. The 13-year-old approached from the passenger side, and the 12-year-old from the driver's side, the detective said.
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The officer, who was sitting in the passenger seat, got out of his car and fatally shot the 13-year-old, who was later identified as Vernard Toney Jr. The 12-year-old took off running and was captured on surveillance video, authorities said.
After police released a photograph of the 12-year-old suspect, his mother recognized him and called police. Police announced Tuesday the boy had been arrested and was charged with armed carjacking.
When police searched the boy's bedroom, they found what they said was the clothing he was seen wearing in the surveillance video. No weapons were recovered at the scene of the attempted carjacking or from a search of the boy's home, authorities said.
In court Wednesday, when asked to identify himself, the 12-year-old lied to the judge, saying he is 13.
According to testimony in Wednesday's hearing, the 12-year-old has a history of anger management problems, dating back to when he was five years old, but he had never been in trouble with police, and this was the first time he had been arrested.
The judge ordered him to be detained at D.C.'s youth services center until his next court hearing. He entered a plea of not involved.
D.C. police said Tuesday the security officer who shot Toney, the 13-year-old, was cooperating with the investigation and his gun was owned legally.
Toney was a seventh grader at Kelly Miller Middle School in Northeast D.C. He was smart, funny and talented, his principal said in a letter to families. Counseling services were offered to Toney’s classmates.
Two sources familiar with the investigation say Toney was arrested in May in connection with a number of armed carjackings in Southeast D.C. He was 12 at the time. It wasn’t immediately clear what happened with the cases.
