A 17-year-old boy was arrested and charged with murder after a 16-year-old girl was shot and killed near DuVal High School in Lanham, Maryland, during a clash between two groups of teens earlier this week, authorities say.
A teen from Glenarden was arrested Thursday after Jayda Medrano-Moore was shot and killed near the school on Monday, Prince George’s County police said Friday. The suspect, whose name was not released, was charged as an adult with first- and second-degree murder, first- and second-degree assault and a firearms charge, police said.
The suspect attended Charles Herbert Flowers High School, Prince George's County Public Schools Superintendent Millard House II said. The school is in Springdale, about five miles south of DuVal High.
“It shouldn’t have happened, and it didn’t have to happen,” Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks said at a news conference Friday afternoon.
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Jayda was a “star in every sense of the word,” and the community now shares a “collective grief," Alsobrooks said.
The shooter opened fire after “some type of petty beef” between groups of young people, Chief of Police Malik Aziz said.
“She stepped in between that when a gun was produced,” he said. “[…] The person with a gun at a fight shot and killed her.”
Learning about the teen’s arrest was a “bittersweet moment,” Jayda’s aunt Wendy Liriano said.
“We lost our star, Jayda. And for the other family, they lost their child as well, being that he will spend the rest of his life behind bars,” she said.
Here's what Prince George's police say happened outside DuVal High
According to the initial investigation, Jayda, of Greenbelt, was walking on Palamar Drive after leaving school when the fight broke out over an ongoing dispute. During the fight, the teen suspect pulled out a gun.
“Detectives believe the victim attempted to intervene when she was shot,” Aziz said.
According to charging documents, investigators say the boy accused of killing Jayda told a friend the two were fighting over a gun when it went off and that he didn’t mean to shoot her.
Jayda was with her brother when she was killed, her father previously told News4.
She was found shot at about 3:45 p.m. She was rushed to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Anonymous tips helped lead to the teen’s arrest, police and prosecutors said.
Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy had a message for young perpetrators: “You will not scare your peers into silence. They will speak up, and they have spoken up in this case.”
The suspect was “out and about” after the killing, “living his life as if this did not occur,” Aziz said.
Police don’t know how the teen suspect got a gun and do not have the gun now, Aziz said.
After Jayda was shot, DuVal High and nearby Robert Goddard Montessori School were locked down for hours.
Jayda was a bright, humble student who dreamed of playing basketball professionally, her father said. Her family is now planning her funeral.
The suspect is being held without bond. He had no prior contact with police, the department said.
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Anyone with potentially relevant information is asked to contact police.
Ileya Robinson Williams contributed reporting.
Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.
