UPPER MARLBORO, Md. — There’s been a shake-up at the Prince George’s County Courthouse in the wake of bitter complaints that the judge in charge of the juvenile court has been too easy on dangerous teen offenders.
A new judge has been put in charge of the county's juvenile docket, according to a court order obtained by WUSA9.
Judge Peter K. Killough was replaced as the Juvenile Coordinating Judge in Prince George’s County, according to a memo from the county’s chief administrative judge announcing new assignments at the courthouse.
The change was announced after the county’s police chief, Malik Aziz, called the juvenile court a “catch and release” system that he said repeatedly put dangerous teens back on the street with little accountability.
County Executive Angela Alsobrooks met with court officials last week to call for change, according to the executive's staff.
Monday, Alsobrooks announced a curfew for juveniles to begin at midnight Friday, Sept. 9 as a measure to gain control of what leaders say is a juvenile crime crisis.
The mother of a 13-year-old murder victim King Douglas applauded the change.
Ja’Ka McKnight said her family was shocked when she said judge Killough released the the12-year old who admitted to shooting her son to probation monitored by an ankle bracelet.
“It was a slap in my face, I felt like a suspect in the courtroom,” McKnight said. “I didn’t understand it, he was laid back and nonchalant about it."
Douglas was murdered outside the Forestville Dave and Busters in April of 2021.
Judge Michael R. Pearson will be taking over supervision of the juvenile docket in Prince George's County beginning Monday, Sept. 12.
“I just want judge Pearson to hold these kids accountable," McKnight said. "If we don’t hold them accountable, They're going to kill more people and we're going to have more cases.”
According to Chief Aziz, his officers have rearrested some armed juveniles as many as four times, sometimes within days of previous arrests for carrying weapons.
"We can't arrest our way of this," Aziz said Monday as he pointed out that prosecutors, courts and the state's Department of Juvenile Services must adopt a more aggressive posture toward keeping teen offenders off the streets.