By Andrea F. Siegel , andrea.siegel@baltsun.com|June 13, 2009
A former gang member confessed to a key role in the firebombing of a Piney Orchard townhouse - a crime that police suspect was a retaliation for the death of a 14-year-old, a prosecutor said Friday.
Also, witnesses told investigators that Jonathan R. Myers, 22, bought the gasoline for the Molotov cocktail that charred the front of the home, the prosecutors said.
The information came to light as an Anne Arundel County Circuit Court judge revoked Myers' bond in another case. The Gambrills man had been out of jail and awaiting trial on an attempted murder charge when the firebombing occurred.
"Witnesses placed Mr. Myers as the person who purchased the gasoline," said Michael Dunty, an assistant state's attorney prosecuting the case. He said Myers gave a videotaped confession to having an "integral role" in the arson.
Fire Department investigators allege in charging documents that Myers "exited a vehicle holding a liquor bottle that had been filled with gasoline" and walked to the front of the townhouse. The unnamed witness "heard glass break and saw the defendant run back to the vehicle, " the documents say.
Dunty said Myers did not confess to placing the Molotov cocktail at the house.
Three people awakened by the incident, shortly after 3 a.m. June 3, were not hurt, fire officials said.
Myers and three juveniles have been charged with arson.
Police have said the attack was carried out in retaliation for what the suspects erroneously believed was involvement by a youth there in the death of Christopher Jones, who was beaten May 30 near his Crofton home. As the 14-year-old pedaled away from his attackers on his bicycle, he fell and hit his head.
Javel M. George, 16, of Crofton was charged as an adult with manslaughter, and a 14-year-old was charged as a juvenile in the boy's death.
Gangs have been implicated in both cases. Police said two of the teens charged with arson are in TNT, or The New Threat, which has been feuding with ESD, or East Side Diamonds.
Friends said Christopher Jones was not in a gang but was bullied by gang members. His parents moved him from one high school to another because of bullying.
Dunty said Myers had left the Dead Man Incorporated gang by mid-April. DMI, which started in Maryland prisons about two decades ago, held an amnesty to allow members to quit without penalty in a move that downsized the violent gang.
In the attempted murder case, Myers is accused of breaking a bottle across the neck of another man at a party, Dunty said.
Judge Michele D. Jaklitsch revoked Myers' bond on pending probation violation cases.
