Grand jury refuses murder indictment in teen's death
An Anne Arundel County grand jury refused to hand up a second-degree murder indictment Friday against the teen accused of killing Christopher Jones, 14, near his Crofton home. Prosecutors immediately moved to keep the lesser charge of manslaughter, filing a criminal information against Javel M. George, 16. Earlier this week, a District Court judge found prosecutors had enough evidence to go forward with the manslaughter charge. A detective testified at George's preliminary hearing that early autopsy results indicated that blows to Christopher's head most likely fatally damaged an artery to the brain. Police said six people confronted Christopher about remarks they had heard he made about one or more members of the ESD youth gang. Christopher was not a member of the rival TNT gang but had friends who were, police said. Police said George and a 14-year-old charged as a juvenile admitted hitting Christopher. Manslaughter can stem from an accidental death, but second-degree murder requires either the intent to kill or the intent to inflict such severe harm that the actions probably would cause death. Earlier this week, George's lawyer maintained his client was not guilty and said he planned to ask that George be tried as a juvenile.
