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Edgewood resident Rahzar Meyers was sentenced on Friday, June 10 to life in prison with an additional 45 years which will all be served in the Division of Corrections after being found guilty of murder, gang, and weapon charges.
Harford County State’s Attorney Albert Peisinger, Jr. said that shortly before 12:20 a.m. on July 4, 2019, sheriff’s deputies responded to Eloise Lane in Edgewood, where Khalil Johnson, then 15, had been shot in the back with the bullet exiting through his chest.
Johnson was transported to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore where he was later pronounced dead.
The investigation into the murder determined that Meyers was a member of the 400 Tree Top Pier gang, who was in a feud with a local subset of the Crips gang at the time of the shooting.
Peisinger said that witnesses informed investigators that at the time of the murder, Meyers stood on Brookside Drive and fired a handgun in the direction of Eloise Lane and Johnson, who was among a group of other people and struck by the bullet.
Video of the incident showed Johnson running from the scene on Eloise Lane before he collapsed, the DA said.
It is unclear if Johnson was affiliated with the Crips gang.
Multiple gun casings were recovered in the area of the shooting, as well as a laser gun attachment that had Meyers’ DNA on it, according to the DA.
Following a two-week trial, Meyers was found guilty by a jury of first-degree murder, participating in a criminal organization in the commission of a crime that results in death as well as “a multitude of firearm offenses.”
“As this complex prosecution and today’s sentence shows, we will use every tool and every resource at our disposal to eradicate brutal and senseless acts of gang violence and hold offenders accountable through lengthy prison sentences,” Peisinger said in announcing the sentence.
“My heart goes out to Khalil Johnson’s family and I hope this conviction and sentence brings some closure to them.”
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