Authorities have filed murder charges against Devin Wilson, 18, alleging he fired a shotgun and killed his 8-year-old brother last month while babysitting him in West Baltimore.
Detectives wrote in charging documents that Officer David Weldon responded to the shooting in the 2100 block of Presbury St. and found the teenager crying in the back bedroom with the gun.
“Officer Weldon was able to talk Devin Wilson into putting the shotgun down and out of the bedroom,” detectives wrote.
Wilson was taken to the hospital for a psychiatric evaluation.
Prosecutors are pursuing second-degree murder charges against him. Under Maryland law, second-degree murder does not require premeditation or deliberation.
Police were called to the home shortly after 5 p.m. on Dec. 30 and found a neighbor performing CPR on 8-year-old Dylan King. He had been shot once inside the rowhome and was pronounced dead at the hospital.
The boy’s mother told police that Devin Wilson had been babysitting his four younger siblings when he called and told her to come home because Dylan had been shot. The boy’s father told police that the teen told them Dylan had accidentally shot himself. But an autopsy found no evidence that the boy was shot at close range, according to charging documents.
The parents told police that Devin Wilson had expressed interest in shooting guns and they had taken him to an indoor gun range for his 18th birthday. Shortly afterward, the teen either sold or traded a puppy for money to buy the shotgun, according to the charging documents. Officers wrote the purchase was not illegal because Wilson was 18 years old and had no criminal record.
Online court records did not list an attorney for Wilson. He’s scheduled for a preliminary hearing Feb. 15 in Baltimore District Court.
A week after his death, 60 family members, friends and teachers gathered to remember the third grader at Matthew A. Henson Elementary School for his love of sports and big smile.
An online fundraiser for Dylan King’s family shows photos of the grinning boy, “the sweetest child you could ever meet.”
“His silly personality and welcoming snagga (sic) tooth smile could warm and cheer anybody up,” the fundraiser said.
