Horror as Teen Is Accused of Killing 15-Year-Old Girl and Her 9-Year-Old Brother

A 16-year-old boy has been arrested and charged as an adult in the fatal shootings of a 9-year-old boy and his 15-year-old sister inside their suburban Baltimore home.

Keith Maurice James Jr. faces two counts of first-degree murder and one count of using a firearm in a crime of violence in connection with the July 7 deaths of Steve Allen, 9, and Giovanna Myrie, 15, according to Baltimore County police.

The siblings were found dead inside their home in Gwynn Oak after their mother made the horrifying discovery and called 911, according to a criminal complaint.

Baltimore County Police Chief Robert McCullough said investigators determined that James knew the victims and had previously been inside the home.

“When you consider how horrific this crime was carried out, it was terrible,” McCullough said during a news conference Wednesday. “When you reflect on the fact that a child who had just turned 16 carried out this crime and did it in the manner he did, it’s troubling.”

Police said they relied on witness interviews, cellphone records and surveillance footage to identify James as the suspect.

According to the criminal complaint, one of Giovanna’s friends told investigators that the teenager had begun video chatting with a boy named “Keith” several weeks before the killings.

McCullough did not provide details about the exact nature of their relationship, but his comments suggested investigators were examining the case as possible teen dating violence.

“We need to make sure we know who our kids are associating with,” the police chief said. “The final issue is dating violence, teen violence between people who have relationships. We need to be mindful of those things.”

The friend told police that James visited Giovanna’s home on July 4, three days before the siblings were killed.

During that visit, Giovanna allegedly video-called her friend, who said she saw James sitting with the 15-year-old on her bed while holding a handgun, according to the complaint.

Giovanna later reportedly texted the friend that James had threatened to kill her if she “messed around with any other guys.”

Investigators said they also recovered messages from Giovanna’s tablet that appeared to show James making a similar threat.

Cellphone location data allegedly placed James near the Gwynn Oak home around the time the killings occurred.

Police also said surveillance footage showed him taking a bus to the area before the shootings and leaving on a bus afterward.

Authorities did not immediately disclose a suspected motive or explain how Steve became involved in the attack.

McCullough acknowledged that the arrest came more than two weeks after the killings, but said detectives needed time to build a strong case because of the suspect’s age.

“It took longer than I wanted it to,” he said. “However, we had to make sure that we put together a very airtight case considering the age of the suspect in this case.”

James is being held without bail.

Attorney information was not immediately available.