Teen brothers accused of fatally assaulting man at Great Frederick Fair

 

Two teen brothers accused of killing a man at the Great Frederick Fair last week appeared in front of a judge on Monday.

The 15-year-old and 16-year-old have been charged as charged as juveniles with first and second-degree Assault in the death of 59-year-old John Weed.

Aside from the tearful pleas from their parents, the judge ordered that both teens be held behind bars until their next court hearing on October 22nd.

Prosecutors say the two brothers were apart of a group who harassed and followed the victim after at the Great Frederick Fair on Friday after an argument about the him giving the teens a dollar.

They stated that it was the older brother who punched and pushed Weed and the argument continued as the boys followed him.

According to investigators, the younger brother “came out of nowhere and sucker-punched” Weed, knocking him to the ground. Then the older brother then spit on him as he lay unconscious.

“This was over him asking him for a dollar bill. Now, obviously there was some degree of dialogue that occurred after that and it was negative dialogue, who said what? We don’t know at this point in time. The sheriff is still asking for people to come forward. This was not about the knockout game…this was all over kids asking for a dollar and there was something that broke bad after that,” said Frederick County State’s Attorney Charlie Smith.

“There’s been a lot of people on social media, wanting them to be tried as adults. I can tell you I don’t make the law, I just prosecute people who break it. So the law does not permit states attorneys offices across the state of Maryland to charge a juvenile as an adult with manslaughter, with second-degree murder, with first-degree assault.”

 

The state’s attorney said that by state law, the facts of the case does not amount to charging the boys with a hate crime. However, they will charge the younger brother on manslaughter charges.

As of right now, both brother are being charged with first and second degree assault.

The exact cause of Weed’s death is still pending. There is a a possibility that more people could be facing charges in this case.