Kaeden Baby K Holland pleas guilty to attempted murder on school bus
A 16-year-old boy accused of trying to shoot another youth on a school bus in Prince George’s County, Md., pleaded guilty to attempted murder as an adult Thursday in a deal with prosecutors.
Kaeden Holland, who was identified publicly by police only as “Baby K” after his arrest last year, was charged with attempted first-degree murder and related crimes in the May 1 incident. Prosecutors said Holland pointed a loaded handgun at the head and chest of a 14-year-old on the bus and squeezed the trigger several times, but the weapon malfunctioned.
Holland also pleaded guilty to use of a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence. Prosecutors are recommending a sentence of 60 years with all but 25 suspended, to be served at the Patuxent Institution, a Maryland prison that offers a youth offender program. Attempted murder in Maryland is punishable by up to life in prison. Holland’s sentencing is scheduled for May.
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“That may seem like a tough and lengthy sentence for someone so young,” Prince George’s State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy (D) said, referring to the recommended prison term. “But the consequences, the result of what could have been had that gun fired. … We believe that this is an appropriate request from the state.”
Charging documents filed in court provided more details about the assault, which occurred with a bus driver and bus aide aboard. Police and prosecutors said it stemmed from a dispute between rival neighborhood groups. After the bus stopped at Iverson Street and Sutler Drive in the Oxon Hill area, three teens, including Holland, got on, according to the charging documents.
Video footage showed Holland brandishing a silver and black handgun, pointing it at the 14-year-old boy’s head and pulling the trigger. “The gun made an audible click, and the gun malfunctioned,” police said in the charging documents.
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Maryland incarcerates children of color at one of the highest rates in the country. Holland’s case spotlighted the ongoing struggle the state faces: how to address youth violence while trying not to revert to policies that some officials say have led to the disproportionate incarceration of Black youths.
A judge last week denied Holland’s request to be transferred to juvenile court, which his attorneys argued would benefit him because of the juvenile system’s focus on treatment and rehabilitation.
Separately, Holland is charged as a juvenile in D.C. in the killing of the sister of an alleged accomplice in the attempted bus shooting, according to individuals familiar with the investigation. Because juvenile cases are confidential, it is unclear whether authorities in D.C. will seek to transfer him to adult court.
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Sherrie Waldrup, chief of homicide and the strategic investigations unit in the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office, said in court that had the school bus case gone to trial, the state would have produced evidence proving Holland’s guilt, including video, cellphone records and witness testimony identifying him as the would-be shooter aboard the bus.
After the pistol jammed, Holland “racked the slide of the handgun” to “correct the malfunction,” according to the charging documents. Then he used the weapon to beat the victim in the face, leaving a cut on his temple and “an indentation of the barrel of the handgun.” The other two teens punched and kicked the victim.
Holland pointed the gun at the victim’s head again and pulled the trigger, authorities said. The gun again malfunctioned, and Holland tried to correct it. He again beat the 14-year-old with the jammed pistol, according to the charging documents. Holland attempted to shoot him a third time but failed.
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The victim tried to flee to the back of the bus, Waldrup said, but the teens chased after him. Holland and the other teens then fled the bus. The bus driver drove away to a nearby location with the 14-year-old and bus aide, where police responded, Waldrup said. Police recovered three live 9mm cartridges on the floor of the bus.
Martin Diggs, president of the labor union representing educational employees, provided the bus surveillance video to the media after the assault.
“This is tomorrow’s future,” Diggs said outside the court on Thursday following the plea. “We do not want the schoolyard to be the graveyard.” He said the union has recommended more security personnel in the school system.
Holland had been shot in a leg and witnessed the fatal shooting of a friend when he was younger, his attorney, Michael Lawlor, said.
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Lawlor argued that Holland was amenable to treatment in the juvenile system, pointing to a progress report from the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services, which indicated that Holland has shown positive behavior since his time at a juvenile justice center.
At the juvenile waiver hearing, prosecutors argued that Holland has a history of aggression and that the treatment programs recommended by juvenile services weren’t long enough to provide treatment for him. Holland had prior involvement with the juvenile system for a deadly-weapons misdemeanor, according to testimony from the juvenile services agency. The case was “closed unsuccessfully” because Holland did not complete the terms of his probation
“This is a cautionary tale,” Braveboy said. “There are so many kids, there are so many Mr. Hollands out there. I’m concerned about their safety, and I’m concerned about the safety of our community.”
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