A teen who pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of a 14-year-old on a Prince George's County school bus last year was sentenced to decades in prison Friday. Prosecutors said he pulled the trigger three times but the gun malfunctioned each time.
Kaeden Holland was sentenced on an attempted murder charge to 60 years with all but 25 years suspended. He also was sentenced concurrently on firearms charges.
Holland, also known as "Baby K," was charged as an adult for the 2023 attack, but was 15 years old at the time the attack took place.
Prosecutors say on May 1, 2023, Holland and the victim were both on a school bus in Oxon Hill, Maryland.
As News4 reported, the bus was stopped at Iverson Street and Sutler Drive when three young people boarded and began to attack the 14-year-old, police said. The assault was captured on the bus' surveillance camera.
Holland held a gun to the victim's head and pulled the trigger 3 times, but the gun jammed each time and did not fire.
“The gun made an audible click and the gun malfunctioned,” prosecutors said.
When the gun failed to fire the first time, Holland racked the gun to try to correct it and pistol-whipped the victim, “leaving an indentation of the barrel of the gun on his right side temple.”
Two other young people punched and kicked the boy.
Then Holland pulled the trigger a second time.
The gun malfunctioned again.
He racked it again and then hit the boy with the gun, his hands and his feet.
The boy tried to grab the gun away from him, but Holland pointed it at him and pulled the trigger a third time. Again, it did not fire.
Holland pointed the gun at the school bus driver and bus aide, and then he and the two other young people ran away, prosecutors say. Police found three, live 9 mm cartridges on the floor of the bus, prosecutors said.
The 14-year-old victim was able to escape with only minor injuries, police said.
Holland pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree murder and use of a gun in the commission of a crime earlier this year, in exchange for a 25-year sentence.
In March, the victim's mother told News4 she's thankful her son's attacker will serve time, and she is getting help for her son.
Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy said in March that she’s glad Holland took responsibility for his actions.
“It was important for Mr. Holland and other young people to know that there are consequences for your actions,” Braveboy said then.
After Friday's sentencing, Braveboy released a statement.
"“It’s our right in this community to be safe, to work and to live freely without the fear of being harmed," the statement reads in part. "The school bus driver, aide and teenaged victim will forever be traumatized by what they experienced on that school bus. This 25 year sentence against Mr. Holland ensures that he will be held accountable for his horrific actions."
In that release, Braveboy also stated that Holland would be incarcerated in an adult facility.
The two other teens involved in the attack were also charged as adults.
