Second Teen Admits To Role In Townhouse Firebombing

A second teenager has admitted to having a role in the firebombing of a Piney Orchard townhouse, a crime that was intended as retaliation for the May 30 homicide of a Crofton youth.

In an Anne Arundel County Juvenile Court hearing last week, the boy, 15, made the equivalent of a guilty plea to conspiracy to commit arson. Like the other back-seat passenger who admitted to participating, he agreed to testify against any of the others. He is scheduled to be sentenced later this month. He was released with electronic monitoring to relatives who do not live in the community, according to Kimberly DiPietro, assistant state's attorney.

Four people - three juveniles and 22-year-old Jonathan R. Myers of Gambrills, were charged in the June 3 crime that charred the front of the home. The sleeping family inside was awakened by its dog barking about 3 a.m. No one was hurt.

Police said the Molotov cocktail was an erroneous attempt at retribution for the death of Christopher Jones, 14. The youth in that household is not one of the two teenagers charged with killing Christopher, and police said he was not involved in Christopher's death.

DiPietro has said that Myers and three juveniles left a party, held in honor of Christopher, to buy cigarettes at a gas station, and Myers told the teens that he wanted to stop by the Piney Orchard home. Prosecutors alleged that Myers bought the gasoline and walked up to the house and placed the Molotov cocktail there. Myers has not been tried yet on arson and related charges.