A 20-year-old Pikesville man pleaded guilty on Feb. 10 to the early springtime murder of a juvenile outside an Inner Harbor hotel.
Dejuan Cole accepted a plea bargain for first-degree murder and use of a hand gun in a violent crime before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Robert K. Taylor, accepting a life sentence suspending all but 30 years in prison.
The plea bargain came in connection to a fatal incident that took place on April 1, 2024. According to charging documents, Cole and four other men attempted to rob the victim, 17-year-old Devron Tyner, before fatally shooting him on the 200 block of E. Pratt Street, just outside the Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel. Medics rushed Tyner to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after.
Investigators revealed the incident had been captured on surveillance cameras. Along with the footage, two eyewitnesses placed Cole and four other men at the crime scene. Cole eventually turned himself into police on April 8, 2024, after still images from the footage were released to the public.
“While no sentence can undo the pain inflicted on Devron’s family, this outcome reflects our unwavering commitment to seeking justice on behalf of victims and standing beside their loved ones every step of the way,” said State’s Attorney Ivan J. Bates in a release.
Per the terms of the plea, Cole will be required to serve 5 years of supervised probation upon release.
Judge Taylor spoke to Cole at the end of the hearing, addressing his teenaged victim.
“You took everything he was going to be,” he told the defendant.
