Baltimore, Maryland – On February 10, 2022, U.S. District Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher sentenced Amir Stanley Turner, age 20, of Edgewood, Maryland, to 222 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for carjacking resulting in death, in connection with the fatal attempted carjacking of a delivery driver in Harford County, Maryland on February 10, 2019. There is no parole in the federal system.
Two alleged co-conspirators have been arrested on related State charges.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Acting Special Agent in Charge L.C. Cheeks, Jr. of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division; Colonel Woodrow W. Jones III, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police; Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey R. Gahler; and Harford County State’s Attorney Albert Peisinger.
According to Turner’s guilty plea, on February 10, 2019, Turner and at least two co-conspirators attempted to carjack T.Y, who was working as a delivery driver for a local restaurant. As T.Y. was delivering food to a residence in Edgewood, Maryland, he saw an individual enter his vehicle, a 2000 Honda Accord and ran to prevent the perpetrators from taking the vehicle.
As detailed in the plea agreement, as Turner and his associates tried to take the vehicle, T.Y. fought back, hitting Turner’s associates with an expandable baton. When T.Y. refused to retreat and stop the confrontation, Turner shot T.Y. multiple times and Turner and his associates fled the scene. Harford County Sheriff’s Office deputies arriving at the scene found T.Y. lying on the ground next to the Honda, suffering from gunshot wounds to his hand, back, and chest. Deputies noted that the driver’s side front door was open and that an expandable baton was adjacent to T.Y. in a fully extended position. T.Y. was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at a nearby hospital.
Turner, who was 17 years old at the time of the shooting, waived his juvenile status and consented to be prosecuted as an adult for this offense.
This case was made possible by investigative leads generated from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ (ATF) National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN). NIBIN is the only national network that allows for the capture and comparison of ballistic evidence to aid in solving and preventing violent crimes involving firearms. NIBIN is a proven investigative and intelligence tool that can link firearms from multiple crime scenes, allowing law enforcement to quickly disrupt shooting cycles. For more information on NIBIN, visit https://www.atf.gov/firearms/national-integrated-ballistic-information-network-nibin.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. PSN, an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime, is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the ATF, the Maryland State Police, the Harford County Sheriff’s Office, and the Harford County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation and prosecution. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Austin, who prosecuted the case.
For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-neighborhoods-psnexile and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.
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