Teen squeegee worker convicted in death of Timothy Reynolds sentenced to 15 years

BALTIMORE -- A 16-year-old convicted of voluntary manslaughter for the 2022 killing of Timothy Reynolds near the Inner Harbor was sentenced Monday to 15 years in prison, defense attorney Warren Brown announced during a media briefing.

Avoiding a maximum sentence of 35 years, the teen will and at most will serve 15 years, with no possibility of parole until 5 years into the sentence.   

The defendant's attorneys will seek a modification of the sentence when they can, based on the teen's progress in the system and his progress with treatment for a range of emotional and mental issues he is dealing with.

The teen was one of several squeegee workers Reynolds, 48, confronted with a bat near the Inner Harbor on July 7, 2022, at the corner of Light and Conway streets near the Inner Harbor.

"The state was asking for 35 years, he ends up with 15 years, and the judge inviting us to come back to her on a motion to modify, and so things turned out quite well for him," Brown said.

The teen, who was 14 at the time, retrieved a gun from his backpack and shot and killed Reynolds, who was struck in the face, chest and three times in the back.

Attorney Thiru Vignarajah also made a statement after the sentencing, speaking on behalf of the Reynolds family.  

Vignarajah said that while the sentence the teen received was over twice of what the maximum guideline sentence was, the teen deserved the maximum sentence.  

"The family realizes that this was going to be a dark day at the end of a dark year. They are grateful as they have been throughout for the outpouring of support from the community. We know that there are many in the community that will share both that there is some closure that is brought from today's sentence, and some frustration that the maximum sentence wasn't imposed," Vignarajah said.

WJZ is not naming the teen, who is now 16, due to his age.

A jury convicted the teen of voluntary manslaughter and two gun charges back in July, but he was acquitted of first- and second-degree murder.   

WJZ sat down with one of the teen's attorneys, who wanted the judge to give him a lighter sentence and recommended mental health counseling.

The teen's lawyers argued he acted in self-defense, while prosecutors said the victim was walking away when he was shot and the teenager covered his face when he retrieved a weapon from a backpack near Conway and Light Streets.  

"He will return to the community one day he will be a much different person. He is going in as a boy, but he will come out as a man, but he will be a changed man and like I told him in the courtroom we all make mistakes, but our past mistakes should not define us, they should refine us," Wyndal Gordon, the second attorney for the defendant said.