Rogers, the boys' aunt, said, "My nephews, they might have done some things wrong, but that's what teenagers do."
Linda Robinson, a relative of the boys' in East Baltimore, said: "Everybody is just worried to death. They don't bother anybody. They ride their little dirt bikes; they drive their cars."
The boys' mother, Deborah Rogers, 45, was charged in December with failing to ensure that the younger son went to school. The teenager did not show up at Catonsville Middle School between Nov. 6 and Dec. 20, when the charges were filed, according to court documents.
Deborah Rogers could not be reached for comment yesterday.
The case was placed on an inactive docket last month when Rogers told a Baltimore County District Court judge that she would "continue efforts to send [the] child to school," court records show. A Baltimore City juvenile master noted in a Jan. 30 court order that Sterling had been attending school regularly.
Charles Herndon, a spokesman with Baltimore County public schools, said he could not comment on whether the younger brother was still enrolled at Catonsville Middle, saying he had been advised by county police "not to participate in any discussions that may be related to the ongoing investigation."
Another county schools official said the older boy, Stephon Blackwell, previously attended Catonsville High School but had withdrawn and was not attending classes there this year.
