James Smoot was only 14 when Bloods gang members persuaded their newest recruit to commit a murder in Baltimore County.
Armed with a handgun, the teen ? nicknamed “Lil? J” ? walked up to the home of a 32-year-old Essex man who allegedly owed the gang money. He knocked on the door. The boy opened fire.
On Tuesday, Smoot, now 15, pleaded guilty to the Dec. 17, 2006, murder of Marquel Smith in Baltimore County Circuit Court. Three older suspects are scheduled to stand trial today at 9:30 a.m.
“The murder of Marquel Smith was committed by members of this gang who bragged about killing him,” Baltimore County Detective Joseph Caskey wrote in charging documents.
Two older gang suspects, Troy Smith, 24, of Essex, and Tavon Mouzone, 21, of Baltimore, ordered Marquel Smith to pay the gang $250 a week to sell marijuana in his Essex neighborhood, the unit block of Rumelia Circle, according to police.
When Smith refused, Mouzone told him he would send “some Bloods to run up in his house,” charging documents state. Smoot, a new gang member, wasinstructed to rob Smith and shoot him, if necessary, according to court documents.
At about 9:10 p.m., the teenager knocked on Smith?s door and “immediately began shooting the victim in the upper torso,” police said.
After Smith fell to the ground, another gang suspect, Michael Banks, 20, of Altoona, Pa. ? whom Baltimore County and Baltimore City police said is well-known to them ? ran up and shot the victim several times, according to charging documents.
The case is similar to another Baltimore County homicide in which a different group of males instructed a young teen to murder a witness in Rosedale, police said. Juveniles are not eligible for the death penalty in Maryland.
Baltimore County police say they have identified gang members in every precinct in the county. Baltimore City has about 2,600 known gang members, including 400 Bloods, police say.
