Officer Amy Caprio Murder: 3 Teens Reportedly Plead Guilty

TOWSON, MD — More than a year after Officer Amy Caprio was killed in Perry Hall, all four teens charged in her death will be sentenced for murder. Three teens set to appear for a motions hearing in Baltimore County Circuit Court on Monday, June 3, reportedly entered guilty pleas; and the teen who ran over the officer — Dawnta Harris— was found guilty of murder and other charges in May.

Police said Caprio was responding to a call about a suspicious Jeep and people burglarizing houses in a Perry Hall neighborhood before 2 p.m. on May 21, 2018. She followed a black Jeep Wrangler to a cul-de-sac on Linwen Way, where she got out of her patrol vehicle and ordered the driver, later identified as Harris, to get out of the vehicle. He began to get out, then got back in, accelerated and ran over Officer Caprio, police said.

Neighbors called 9-1-1 reporting that the officer had been hit by a vehicle and one neighbor, a paramedic, ran to Caprio's aid to begin life-saving efforts. She was taken to MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center with traumatic injuries and pronounced deceased at 2:50 p.m. Autopsy results indicated her death was a homicide due to traumatic injuries from being hit by the Jeep, police said. Caprio, 29, was the first female officer to die in the line of duty in the history of the Baltimore County Police Department.

Four teens were indicted in connection with her death on 19 charges each, from first-degree murder to theft under $100. The teens were burglarizing homes in the neighborhood, stealing a handgun, bag of Cheetos and other items, their indictments said, when Caprio was called to the area. If a person dies while an individual is committing a burglary, that individual may be charged with murder, said Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger after the indictments were handed down by a grand jury in May 2018.

All four individuals have now been found guilty or pleaded guilty in the case:

• Dawnta Anthony Harris, 17, of the 1600 block of Vincent Court, Baltimore, MD 21217
• Eugene Robert Genius, 19, of the 400 block of North Lakewood Road, Baltimore, 21224
• Derrick Eugene Matthews, 17, of the 200 block of South Dallas Court, Baltimore, 21231
• Darrell Jaymar Ward, 16, of the 2300 block of Ashland Avenue, Baltimore, 21205

Genius, Matthews and Ward agreed to a plea deal Monday in which they would admit to felony murder while the state would drop burglary charges and request a 30-year sentence for the murder charge, which could otherwise carry a sentence of life in prison, WBAL reported.

Initially, Matthews said he did not want to accept the deal, and a judge asked him again, noting the potential life sentence, at which point he accepted the deal, according to The Baltimore Sun. Genius's attorney said his client also struggled with taking the plea deal, because the charge of murder "doesn't reflect what they did," which was burglarizing houses, the newspaper reported.

Genius, Matthews and Ward will be sentenced Sept. 16, according to The Baltimore Sun, which said their attorneys asked that they be sentenced after Harris.

Sentencing for Harris is set for July 23 in Baltimore County Circuit Court. He was found guilty after going to trial of first-degree burglary, first-degree murder and theft from $1,500 to $25,000.

UPDATE:

• Harris Sentenced In Officer Amy Caprio Murder
• 2 More Teens Sentenced For Murder Of Officer Amy Caprio