At court hearing after court hearing, Nicholas W. Browning has sat stoically as lawyers argued about his bail status, the doctors who would evaluate him and whether he would be tried in adult court or the juvenile system on charges that he killed his family.
But yesterday, as Baltimore County prosecutor S. Ann Brobst read the gruesome details of the night that Browning methodically shot his parents and two younger brothers as they slept in their Cockeysville home, the 16-year-old removed his wire-rimmed glasses and wept.
The tears followed Browning's decision to plead guilty to four counts of first-degree murder in exchange for prosecutors' recommendation of a sentence of no more than two consecutive life terms in prison. As part of the plea agreement accepted by Baltimore County Circuit Judge Thomas J. Bollinger Sr., prosecutors agreed to withdraw the notice of their intention to seek four sentences of life without the possibility of parole.
If the judge accepts prosecutors' recommendation of two consecutive life prison terms when he sentences Browning in December, the teenager probably would serve about 30 years before he is eligible for a parole hearing and would need the approval of the governor before being released.
A court-imposed gag order prevents attorneys in the case from discussing it, and many friends and relatives of the Browning family declined yesterday to comment on the guilty pleas. But those who agreed to be interviewed said the hearing marked a sad resolution to a case that continues to trouble children and parents alike.
"I just think it's heartbreaking," said Kelley Haynes, who lived across the street from the Brownings and works as an aide at the middle school that Nick Browning's brothers attended. "It's just amazing to see an entire family gone like that. ... It's affected so many kids. The teachers and adults and everyone - they're all just devastated. Now Nick is left to deal with what he has left."
Browning, who was a sophomore at Dulaney High School, was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and four handgun offenses in the deaths of his parents and brothers. John W. Browning, 45, was an attorney. His wife, Tamara Browning, 44, was a stay-at-home mother and a former PTA president. Their younger boys, 14-year-old Gregory and 11-year-old Benjamin, attended Cockeysville Middle School.
