BALTIMORE — Self defense or murder?
That was the question before a jury deciding the fate of a squeegee kid, charged as an adult, with murdering a motorist last summer during an altercation in downtown Baltimore.
The jury struggled to reach a unanimous decision through three days of deliberations, on two separate occasions asking the judge to explain rules of a mistrial and then requesting the legal definition of 'justified.'
After receiving instructions the jury on Thursday delivered a guilty verdict for voluntary manslaughter and two gun charges, but an acquittal of first and second degree murder.
Timothy Reynolds, 48, was gunned down after getting out of his car and confronting Tavon Scott, who was 14 at the time, with a baseball bat.
Defense attorneys described the victim's actions as a case of road rage, and said Scott was defending himself against a much bigger and older individual in Reynolds.
"The bottom line is none of this would’ve happened if Mr. Reynolds did not get out of his car with a baseball bat, walk across eight lanes of traffic to confront these children,” said defense attorney J. Wyndal Gordon.
Prosecutors pushed back arguing that Scott retrieved a gun from a backpack, put a mask on, and fired at Reynolds, before changing his shirt and fleeing the scene.
RELATED: Court docs describe video showing man walking away before deadly squeegee encounter
Part of the shooting was captured on area surveillance.
It shows Reynolds - with bat in hand - walking away from Scott and a group of other people before he was killed.
They continued to follow and surround Reynolds at which point he's seen swinging the bat.
Someone then threw an object at Reynolds' head, causing him to become disoriented, at which time Scott shoots him multiple times including in the back.
"This was not a case of self defense. This was not a case of an accident. This was not a case of the gun going off. This was not a case of a child being frightened," said Thiru Vignarajah, an attorney advocating for the Reynolds family leading up to trial.
Police later recovered what they believed was Scott's bag with a loaded gun inside.
MORE: Attorney releases CCTV photos of July's deadly encounter between driver and squeegee worker
The prosecution called 19 witnesses to testify at trial, including a firearms examiner and DNA analysis expert.
Although Scott's DNA was not found on the gun, there was an apparent match on the backpack strap.
Bullet casings recovered at the crime scene were also consistent with the gun found in the bag.
Ultimately the jury felt in someway that Scott was justified in the shooting, as explained by co-defense council Warren Brown.
It's unclear if the judge will approve Brown's request to have Scott sentenced in juvenile court.
If not he could face up to 35-years behind bars.
“The outcome of this case does not change the trauma that has been inflicted across the board by the events that took place in July of 2022," said Baltimore City State's Attorney Ivan J. Bates. “ A man will never return home to his family, and a young person now faces decades of incarceration.
