Officer Amy Caprio Murder Trial Begins

TOWSON, MD — A jury was selected Monday for the trial of one of four teens charged in the murder of a Baltimore County police officer last spring in Perry Hall. The murder and burglary charges stemmed from the death of Officer Amy Caprio on May 21, 2018.

Caprio, 29, was responding to a call about a suspicious black Jeep and people walking around committing burglaries on Linwen Way when she was fatally hit by the vehicle. She was taken to Franklin Square Medical Center, where she was pronounced deceased shortly thereafter, police said. Autopsy results indicated the death was a homicide due to traumatic injuries from being hit by the Jeep, police said.

Dawnta Harris, 17, of the 1600 block of Vincent Court in Baltimore, is accused of driving the Jeep. He and three other teens were indicted on 19 charges each, from first-degree murder to theft less than $100. According to the indictments, they were involved in break-ins in Perry Hall homes, stealing items from a bag of Cheetos to a handgun.

Before jury selection began Monday in Baltimore County Circuit Court in Towson, the judge asked prosecutors to consider a plea deal, and Fox 45 reported they offered Harris a sentence of life in prison for a plea of guilty to first-degree murder.

"Absolutely not," Harris's attorney, J. Wyndal Gordon, reportedly said, declining the deal.

"He's taking these matters very seriously," Gordon told the news station about his client, saying the teen was an active part of the defense team. "He's taking notes. He's asking questions."

Jury selection concluded Monday after prospects were asked questions like whether they had geographic or racial bias, according to WBAL. Harris's team also tried to get Caprio's body camera removed from evidence, WBAL reported, but the judge did not grant the request.

According to attorney Warren Brown, who is also representing Harris with J. Wyndal Gordon pro bono, running over the police officer was unintentional.

Police said Caprio followed a black Jeep Wrangler to a cul-de-sac on Linwen Way, got out of her patrol vehicle and ordered the driver, later identified as Harris, to get out. Harris began to exit the Jeep, then got back in and accelerated, driving toward and hitting Caprio, police said.

Just before she was hit by the Jeep, Caprio fired her service weapon at the driver, according to a statement from the Baltimore County Police Department, which cited body-worn camera video.

Harris was "operating out of fear" when the officer pulled her gun, the teen's attorney said last year. Leading up to the trial, Gordon told WJZ: "We want to know why she fired a shot..." and he contested that the teen meant to kill the officer.

Caprio was the first woman in the Baltimore County Police Department to die in the line of duty. In total, the agency reports 10 officers have died in the line of duty in its 144-year history.

The trial for Harris is expected to last through at least the end of the week, court records show.

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