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What's going on in Baltimore's juvenile system? Teen cop-killer suspect arrested 4 times in 6 months
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What's going on in Baltimore's juvenile system? Teen cop-killer suspect arrested 4 times in 6 months

Dawnta Anthony Harris, the 16-year-old suspect in a Baltimore County police officer's death, had reportedly been arrested four times in the last six months leading up to the officer's death.

His fifth and latest arrest was for allegedly killing Officer Amy Caprio, 29, who was a four-year veteran of the police force.

How did the officer die?

Caprio died after she was reportedly run over by a vehicle driven by Harris during an incident Monday.

The officer was purportedly responding to a suspicious vehicle in the area and reportedly stumbled upon a burglary in process.

Despite Caprio ordering the car's occupants to empty out of the vehicle — a black Jeep — eyewitnesses said that the driver, later identified as Harris, threw the car into gear and ran Caprio over before fleeing the scene.

Police are charging Harris and three other suspects — also reportedly teens — as adults.

What is Harris's background?

According to WJZ-TV, police arrested Harris in December, January, February, and March.

WJZ also reported that Harris was "detained as recently as April 17."

The outlet noted that Harris was "essentially" put on house arrest, but then "went missing" and police were unable to locate him in the time leading up to Caprio's murder.

According to WJZ, who obtained the relevant court documents, Harris was placed on community detention on May 10. He was ordered to wear a monitored bracelet and was only permitted to leave his home to attend school.

Authorities attempted to locate Harris at school on May 14, but the "rapid response team" was unable to do so.

The team found Harris at home on May 15.

On May 16, his bracelet notified authorities that he had left his home again, and when officers were dispatched, they were unable to locate him once again.

Baltimore's Department of Juvenile Services attempted to have Harris hauled into court for noncompliance.

He didn't show up to the Friday hearing, but his mother did. The court did not issue a bench warrant, but instead postponed the matter until Tuesday.

Officer Caprio was killed Monday.

Anything else?

If you think that Harris's evasion of the law is simply unacceptable, you aren't the only one. Baltimore County Police Chief Terrance Sheridan feels the same way.

“Did the system not work? It sounds like it could’ve worked better in this particular case,” Sheridan said Tuesday, according to WJZ.

"Perhaps this 16-year-old should not have been out," Sheridan added. "Now we are treating him as an adult because of the gravity of the offense committed."

According to WJZ, the Department of Juvenile Services isn't happy with Marilyn Mosby, the Baltimore state's attorney, and the court system.

Mosby, according to WJZ, said that the Department of Juvenile Services bears the burden, and noted that the system is "broken down."

"If the court imposes community detention with electronic monitoring over our objection, the knowledge, the issuance, the responsibility of monitoring home detention is then on the Department of Juvenile Services," Mosby said during a Wednesday news conference.

"This incident sheds light on an inherently broken juvenile justice system," she added, "which provides a recurring door for troubled youth to graduate to more severe crimes without the opportunity for appropriate rehabilitation and care."

The Department of Juvenile Services fired back with a statement of their own, according to the outlet.

We are surprised by the defensiveness in Ms. Mosby’s recent comments. Secretary Abed has made no accusations about the Office of the State’s Attorney for Baltimore City doing or not doing anything in the Harris matter. We have always maintained and continue to maintain that the State’s Attorney‘s Office serves an important role in the juvenile justice system.

The department takes juvenile confidentiality very seriously. However, details about Mr. Harris’ juvenile matters have already been publicly released and confidentiality is no longer applicable.

If the juvenile justice system is going to improve, all of the partners must work together.

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