Second man convicted for kidnapping couple from Timonium light rail station
Pleads guilty to sex offense, armed robbery, carjacking and kidnapping
By Luke Broadwater
lbroadwater@patuxent.com
Posted 7/01/09
An 18-year-old Baltimore man pleaded guilty Tuesday to kidnapping a young couple from a Timonium light rail station and sexually assaulting the teenage girl.
In Baltimore County Circuit Court, Brian Scott pleaded guilty to committing a third-degree sex offense, two counts of armed robbery, two counts of kidnapping and armed carjacking. Under the terms of the plea agreement, Judge Robert Dugan will sentence Scott to no more than 40 years in prison for the Oct. 10 crime.
Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger said Scott’s two 17-year-old victims didn’t want to have to testify again in a second trial. They already testified in the May trial of Kiheem Taylor, 23, of Baltimore, who was convicted of first-degree rape, among other charges, and faces up to two life sentences plus 140 years in prison.
“It was necessary not to go through another trial,” Shellenberger said of the plea deal. “What (Scott) did was bad, but certainly the other defendant was a lot worse. But for (Scott) identifying the other guy, we never would have caught him.”
In May, Dugan convicted Taylor, condemning his actions as “depraved” and “dastardly.” According to prosecutors, Scott did not wear a mask during the attack, but Taylor did.
Shellenberger said he chose to try the case — only the third time he’s done so since becoming the county’s top prosecutor in December 2006 — because of the crime and because Taylor incriminated himself by using the county jail’s telephones, which recorded his statements.
Prosecutors used a recorded phone call from the Baltimore County Detention Center against Taylor in which he speaks to his ex-girlfriend, a cousin of Scott.
“Man, if Brian would have wore a mask we wouldn’t be in none of this,” Taylor is heard saying on the recording.
According to testimony from the victims, the couple, now both 18, had attended a sporting event, visited with family and went out to dinner before they parked in the Deereco Park and Ride lot in Timonium at about 9 p.m.
Two men knocked on the window of the couple’s car, walked away briefly, then returned, the victims said. One of the men was then masked and holding a handgun.
They forced the boy into the trunk after taking his money, about $80, and the masked man got into the back seat of the car with the girl, while the other man drove them to Baltimore City, according to testimony.
Prosecutors said that during the nearly three-hour trip, both of the men assaulted the girl as they drove to several ATMs and tried to withdraw money from her account. But she could not remember her password, she testified.
When they reached Baltimore City’s Cherry Hill neighborhood, the men released the male victim from the trunk, and the masked man raped the girl, she said. The attackers left the girl naked in the middle of a park, where her boyfriend covered her with his shirt and carried her over broken glass bottles until they found a police car, both victims testified.
The recording provided important information to the prosecution because Scott, who initially alleged that Taylor committed the crime with him, would not testify in court.
Shellenberger said police identified the other defendant, Scott, by tracking a call from a cell phone stolen from the victims.
Taylor elected to have a court trial instead of a jury trial.
Both Taylor and Scott are in Baltimore County Detention Center awaiting sentencing. Taylor will be sentenced Aug. 28. Scott’s sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 13.
This story has been updated.
In Baltimore County Circuit Court, Brian Scott pleaded guilty to committing a third-degree sex offense, two counts of armed robbery, two counts of kidnapping and armed carjacking. Under the terms of the plea agreement, Judge Robert Dugan will sentence Scott to no more than 40 years in prison for the Oct. 10 crime.
Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger said Scott’s two 17-year-old victims didn’t want to have to testify again in a second trial. They already testified in the May trial of Kiheem Taylor, 23, of Baltimore, who was convicted of first-degree rape, among other charges, and faces up to two life sentences plus 140 years in prison.
“It was necessary not to go through another trial,” Shellenberger said of the plea deal. “What (Scott) did was bad, but certainly the other defendant was a lot worse. But for (Scott) identifying the other guy, we never would have caught him.”
In May, Dugan convicted Taylor, condemning his actions as “depraved” and “dastardly.” According to prosecutors, Scott did not wear a mask during the attack, but Taylor did.
Shellenberger said he chose to try the case — only the third time he’s done so since becoming the county’s top prosecutor in December 2006 — because of the crime and because Taylor incriminated himself by using the county jail’s telephones, which recorded his statements.
Prosecutors used a recorded phone call from the Baltimore County Detention Center against Taylor in which he speaks to his ex-girlfriend, a cousin of Scott.
“Man, if Brian would have wore a mask we wouldn’t be in none of this,” Taylor is heard saying on the recording.
According to testimony from the victims, the couple, now both 18, had attended a sporting event, visited with family and went out to dinner before they parked in the Deereco Park and Ride lot in Timonium at about 9 p.m.
Two men knocked on the window of the couple’s car, walked away briefly, then returned, the victims said. One of the men was then masked and holding a handgun.
They forced the boy into the trunk after taking his money, about $80, and the masked man got into the back seat of the car with the girl, while the other man drove them to Baltimore City, according to testimony.
Prosecutors said that during the nearly three-hour trip, both of the men assaulted the girl as they drove to several ATMs and tried to withdraw money from her account. But she could not remember her password, she testified.
When they reached Baltimore City’s Cherry Hill neighborhood, the men released the male victim from the trunk, and the masked man raped the girl, she said. The attackers left the girl naked in the middle of a park, where her boyfriend covered her with his shirt and carried her over broken glass bottles until they found a police car, both victims testified.
The recording provided important information to the prosecution because Scott, who initially alleged that Taylor committed the crime with him, would not testify in court.
Shellenberger said police identified the other defendant, Scott, by tracking a call from a cell phone stolen from the victims.
Taylor elected to have a court trial instead of a jury trial.
Both Taylor and Scott are in Baltimore County Detention Center awaiting sentencing. Taylor will be sentenced Aug. 28. Scott’s sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 13.
This story has been updated.
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