A middle school student in the nation’s capital who was fatally shot on Oct. 28 during an attempted carjacking had a record of stealing cars and robbing people, with nine incidents in the past five weeks, a recent report reveals.
Despite his age, the Washington, D.C., police were well-acquainted with him due to his criminal history. This week, city officials spoke about how the case sheds light on the problem of violent juvenile crime in the area.
Vernard Toney Jr., 13, lost his life when he tried to steal a car from a man, becoming the second teen to do so in the past week.
According to a police report, an off-duty federal security officer shot Toney, a student at Kelly Miller Middle School in northeast D.C., when he and another juvenile tried to carjack him. According to authorities, the boy pretended he had a gun by keeping his hand in his pocket. The officer opened fire, wounding Toney, who died the next day. The other young boy fled the scene.
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Ron Moten, a D.C. anti-violence activist, believes that the city is in crisis.
“We have ‘Grand Theft Auto’ in real life. Children think it’s a game. And now they’re dying, and other people are dying, and people are traumatized,” Moten said to the Washington Post.
The city’s mayor, Muriel Bowser, also weighed in, calling the teen’s death a tragedy.
“Guns, carjackings, 13-year-olds: recipe for tragedy. And that’s what we have,” she said.
Acting Chief of Police Pamela Smith said she wants to be careful with how she publicly discusses the circumstances around Toney’s death.
“He was known to the Metropolitan Police Department, and it’s just unfortunate that this particular incident happened on Saturday night that caused him to no longer be here,” Smith said.
A source familiar with the deceased’s criminal history told WaPo he was arrested in May, while he was 12 years old, in connection to armed carjackings in the city. In August, some charges were dismissed, and he awaited prosecution for the remaining ones.
In addition to Toney, a 15-year-old girl with a history of stealing cars, was arrested two days prior to the boy’s death for her involvement in a case in which two stolen vehicles traveling in a caravan crashed into each other, killing the 16-year-old driver in one vehicle.
Many who knew the seventh grader Toney remembered him as a talented kid with tons of personality and charisma.
The principal of his school sent a letter to the Kelly Miller community.
“He had a natural comedic ability and loved to make people laugh, especially when he would joke that he was the principal of Kelly Miller MS. Vernard also loved to play basketball and spend his free time on the court with his friends,” the principal wrote, according to NBC 4.
Toney was the second 13-year-old boy in Washington to be killed this year in connection with an attempted car theft or break-in.
The other 13-year-old, Karon Blake, was fatally shot on Jan. 7. The adult who shot him, Jason Lewis, alleged he saw him breaking into cars on the street. Lewis, 41, who was charged with second-degree murder for the killing, said he confronted the unarmed Blake and his companions and shot the boy multiple times.
Court documents show that investigators found Blake had never been on Lewis’ property when he ran toward the man and was shot.
In May, Lewis was released from jail and placed on permanent home confinement and supervision until his case has been addressed. Lewis is now scheduled for trial on April 8, 2024.
