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Gaithersburg resident Emmanuel Leonard Simmonds, 16, has been charged with murder in connection to the death of 18-year-old Tenneson Vaughn Leslie, Jr., of Greenbelt, earlier this year in a fight that rapidly escalated and turned deadly.
The arrest came after detectives learned that Simmonds and other minors were on an escalator, along with Leslie and a second group of friends, when the altercation broke out on Thursday, May 18 at the Georgia Avenue station.
Police say that Leslie was found by responding officers from the Montgomery County Department of Police on the day of the shooting suffering from a gunshot wound inside the station.
He was treated at the scene before being taken to a local hospital in critical condition, where he later died on Thursday night.
The initial investigation determined that Leslie was with a group of people inside the Wheaton station when they got into an altercation with another group of men on the escalator, led by Simmonds.
According to police, the fight spilled onto the train platform, where Leslie was shot, and the other group scattered away from the area.
Simmonds reportedly boarded a train and fled the scene.
Leslie was pronounced dead at the scene.
Simmonds was arrested this week and will be tried as an adult on charges that include:
- Second-degree murder;
- Use of a firearm in the commission of a felony;
- First-degree assault;
- Reckless endangerment;
- Possession of a loaded handgun.
Police noted that a 14-year-old was also arrested in the case and is being charged with accessory after the fact for his role in the murder.
Any charges against the younger teen will be processed through the Maryland juvenile justice system.
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