A Howard County grand jury indicted a second teenager for allegedly instigating a brawl that left a high school football player dead.
Corey Lehnhoff, 18, of Ellicott City, faces first- and second-degree assault, dangerous weapons and riot charges stemming from a melee in February involving 20 young males at Mount Hebron High School.
If convicted, Lehnhoff could be sentenced to 80 years in prison for the assault charges alone.
The brawl resulted in the death of Lehnhoff?s best friend, Robert Brazell Jr., 18, of Ellicott City, who was a former Mount Hebron High School student.
Howard police arrested Lehnhoff on Nov. 6, but he was released from the county?s detention center Nov. 7 after he posted a $100,000 bond. The grand jury?s indictment came down Wednesday, said Wayne Kirwan, spokesman for Howard?s state?s attorney?s office.
Lehnhoff “was out in front of the group of males, ripped off his shirt, approached an opposing male and began arguing. This act began the brawl,” according to charging documents.
Witnesses said Lehnhoff, who attended Mount Hebron High, used an aluminum baseball bat to hit Hammond High School student Jacob Sams, 18, of Columbia, in the head three times. Lehnhoff also allegedly hit another teenager repeatedly in the stomach with the bat.
“Sams reportedly has suffered permanent brain damage from this assault,” according to charging documents.
Court records show police charged Sams with possession of marijuana six months after the incident. Hammond High School student Evan Tubbs, 18, of Columbia, said Lehnhoff and three other males struck him with fists, shoes and a bottle.
Sams and Tubbs were transported to University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore City for their injuries, accordingto charging documents.
“I don?t know whether [Lehnhoff] was the initial aggressor,” said Lehnhoff?s attorney Joseph Murtha.
“It?s unusual for someone to be charged so long after the initial instance, so it?s going to take some time to piece together the various statements.”
Murtha said the charges were delayed almost a year, because witnesses could not provide the state with information because of their injuries from the brawl.
Calls to Lehnhoff?s house were not answered.
Former Oakland Mills wrestler Kevin Klink, 18, of Columbia, was indicted for murder in April for swinging the baseball bat at Brazell?s head that left him brain dead, according to court records.
Brazell?s family took him off life support. Klink is being held at the county?s detention center without bond and awaiting trial in Howard Circuit Court in February.
