Jaylen Prince, accused of murdering classmate inside Maryland high school, testifies in his own defense
A teen accused of shooting and killing a classmate inside a Maryland high school testified during his trial Wednesday. Jaylen Prince, 16, is charged as an adult after allegedly murdering 15-year-old Warren Grant on Sept. 6, 2024, inside a Joppatowne High School bathroom.
Prince took the stand Wednesday during the sixth day of his trial and outlined his version of the events from the day of the shooting.
Closing statements are expected to begin on Thursday, May 29, before jury deliberations.
Prince says shooting was an accident
Prince was the final witness in the case. He took the stand dressed in a black suit and glasses and swore under oath that he did not mean to kill Grant.
Earlier in the trial, one of Prince's classmates testified that the shooting stemmed from an argument after Prince spoke to Grant's girlfriend. According to the student, Prince was told to stay away from the girl, which seemed to agitate him.
According to Prince's testimony, Grant was the aggressor in the situation. Prince said Grant came up behind him in the bathroom and tried to instigate a fight over his girlfriend.
On Wednesday, Prince testified that he told Grant, "My hand is broke. I ain't fighting nobody," referring to an injury that required emergency surgery months before the shooting.
He then told Grant, "If you touch me, I will kill you," before he pulled a gun from his backpack to scare his classmates off.
Prince told the jury that Grant shook him, and the gun fired.
"I did not fire the gun. It accidentally went off," Prince said during his testimony.
Prince said he purchased the gun to protect himself as he "was afraid of a lot of places," after losing at least five friends to gun violence.
Prosecution questions photos with guns
During cross-examination, State's Attorney Alison Healey, with the defense team, brought up several photos of Prince with a gun.
The photos showed Prince with the gun in a car, at work and at his friends' homes. Healy pointed out that they were not scary or threatening places.
She also questioned the search history found on Prince's phone, which included types of guns and bullets.
Prince told the jury he searched those topics out of curiosity. He also said he tossed the gun outside the school after the shooting because he panicked.
The gun that was used in the deadly shooting was not recovered.
Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler said officials were hindered by a state law that limits interrogations involving minors.
A county detective testified that he heard Prince say "Toss that f******* gun in the water" during a phone call that was captured on a Ring doorbell.
Text messages about gun purchase
A digital forensics expert testified that Prince's cellphone proved that he bought the gun. An analysis of his phone revealed texts in which he and a contact named "Baby Face" arranged the gun purchase on August 12, 2024.
Prince then allegedly sent the contact $700 through CashApp.
Prince's phone also revealed photos of the firearm, a P80 Hornady 9mm gun, that matched the type of bullets found after the shooting. The bullets also matched the ones recovered during Grant's autopsy.
According to the defense, it does not mean that the bullets came from the pack found in Prince's home.
Prince's mother's testimony
Prince's mother, Rykiech Prince, took the stand on Tuesday, arguing that her son had a limited range of motion in his right index finger due to the prior injury which required surgery.
She told the jury that she often searched her kids' bedrooms and knew their whereabouts.
During a heated exchange with Healey, Rykiech Prince was asked how she missed the ammunition under her son's mattress and why he missed so many days of school.
Rykiech Prince said the missed days were due to her son's hand injury and several suspensions.
She also recalled how Prince went to school on the day of the shooting to fix his computer so he could attend an online school. According to Healey, the school was not made aware of the plans.
