3rd defendant in shooting of boy, 15, pleads guilty

Laura Karr admits to driving getaway car in mistaken identity shooting

 ELLICOTT CITY, Md. —The third defendant charged in the kidnapping and shooting of a 15-year-old boy pleaded guilty to her role in the incident in Howard County Circuit Court.

Laura Karr, 26, of Reisterstown, pleaded guilty to kidnapping on Monday. Prosecutors said she was part of a trio that abducted a teen from a sidewalk in Reisterstown in the summer of 2012, then drove him to a field in Marriottsville and shot him in the back of the neck.

The Howard County State's Attorney's Office said Karr admitted to driving the getaway car during the abduction.

Prosecutors said they will recommend 15 years in prison when Karr is sentenced in February.  

The teen did survive and was able to testify last month against Donald Peoples Jr., who was found guilty of pulling the trigger in the case.

Karr worked out a plea agreement in exchange for her testimony against the 22-year-old Peoples, who was her boyfriend at the time of the shooting.

Officials said Peoples and the other culprits mistakenly identified the victim as being responsible for a "$200 marijuana ripoff." Prosecutors said the victim is still recovering and has a bullet fragment lodged near his brain stem.

Another defendant, Chiquita Sketers, 22, of Randallstown, was sentenced to 25 years in prison earlier this year after pleading guilty to her role in the case.