In the late hours of a summer evening in Edgewood, Maryland, the life of 19-year-old Thailek Jacob Willis was tragically cut short. On Friday, August 3, 2018, at approximately 9:19 p.m., deputies from the Harford County Sheriff's Office responded to a report of a shooting in the parking lot of Edgewood High School. Upon their arrival, they discovered Willis inside a vehicle, suffering from a single gunshot wound to his upper body.
Despite the immediate efforts of medics from the Joppa Magnolia Volunteer Fire Company to transport him to the University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Medical Center, he was pronounced deceased. The school was closed and no activities were taking place at the time of the incident.
The investigation into the homicide quickly led detectives to two juvenile suspects from Edgewood: 16-year-old Yasin Wallace Powell and 15-year-old Jaylin Jerome Brown. Investigators determined that Willis had driven to the high school parking lot to conduct a drug deal. Upon his arrival, Powell and Brown, both armed with handguns, approached his vehicle and announced a robbery. When Willis attempted to drive away to escape the confrontation, both teenagers fired their weapons at his vehicle. One of the bullets struck Willis, causing his fatal injury.
Within days of the shooting, on Monday, August 6, 2018, both Yasin Wallace Powell and Jaylin Jerome Brown were taken into custody without incident. They were both charged as adults with first and second-degree murder, armed robbery, first-degree assault, and other related charges. Following their arrests, they were held without bail at the Harford County Detention Center.
In December 2019, after a six-day trial, a Harford County jury convicted Jaylin Brown, then 17, of second-degree murder, first-degree assault, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony or crime of violence, and possession of a firearm by a person under the age of 21. The Honorable Angela M. Eaves subsequently sentenced Brown to a total of 65 years of incarceration, with all but 20 years suspended. Upon his release, he will be subject to five years of supervised probation.
