BALTIMORE _ The West Baltimore 17-year-old convicted of murdering Officer Amy Caprio last year was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday in Baltimore County Circuit Court in Towson.
Last May, Dawnta Harris was convicted of felony murder for killing Caprio. An eight-day trial revealed that in May 2018 Harris and three other teens drove out to Perry Hall in a stolen Jeep and began to burglarize homes.
The others were inside when Caprio approached their car. Harris gunned the Jeep and ran over the 29-year-old officer. The murder of a white police woman by a black teenager set off a firestorm of debate, much of it racially charged.
Prominent Baltimore attorney Warren Brown took up the teen's defense for free. During trial, Brown said he felt compelled to help Harris after reading online a call to "string him up by his testicles."
Brown presented Harris as a "dumb kid," someone who didn't ask questions when he hopped in a snazzy Jeep with his pals and went joyriding in the suburbs. Once confronted by a police officer, the boy panicked and wanted only to get away, his attorney said.
In recent years, advocates of criminal justice reform have condemned the practice of sentencing teens to life in prison. The Supreme Court prohibited in 2012 mandatory life sentences without the possibility of parole for juveniles. Last year, Maryland's high court upheld life sentences for juveniles, finding the state parole system offers them meaningful opportunities for release.
Harris would be eligible for parole.
The three other teens pleaded guilty in June to the felony murder of Caprio.
Felony murder is the act of killing someone while committing another felony crime: in this case, burglary. Under Maryland law, those who commit the underlying felony can be held responsible for the murder, too. Therefore, the three teens had also faced life in prison if convicted. After Harris' trial, however, they accepted plea deals.
Each pleaded guilty to felony murder for a maximum of 30 years in prison. They are to be sentenced next month.
A young officer, Caprio was dispatched in May 2018 to investigate a suspicious Jeep spotted by neighbors in Perry Hall. On a suburban cul-de-sac, she encountered Harris behind the wheel.
Caprio blocked his way out with her patrol car, jumped out and ordered him to stop. The Jeep sped toward her and she drew her gun, screaming, "Stop! Stop!"
Harris stopped the Jeep and cracked the door as if to surrender. Jurors watched her body camera footage during the trial. Then Harris ducked down and gunned the Jeep. She fired once through the windshield _ she missed him _ before he ran her over.
The teen ditched the Jeep nearby. He was walking down the street when arrested.
In a 14-hour interview with detectives, Harris admitted that he panicked.
"Once I seen the gun, I put my head down and closed my eyes," he told them. "It was like five seconds before I pushed on the gas."
Caprio suffered broken ribs and crushing injuries to her internal organs. Neighbors found her bleeding in the street with tire marks across her legs.
A young wife and graduate of Loch Raven High School and Towson University, she was the first Baltimore County Police officer to be killed on duty since 2013.
