Teen Gets 75 Years After Refusing to Testify in Violent Pikesville Carjacking Case

Reginald Belton made a deal.

The 19-year-old agreed to cooperate and testify against his co-defendant in a brutal armed carjacking case that seriously injured an elderly woman and her daughter. In return, prosecutors would only ask for a 25-year prison sentence in his case.

But when the time came for him to take the stand at Darius Wolfe's trial, Belton balked. He refused to testify, telling the judge he was high at the time, according to prosecutors.

And for that, he paid a hefty price.

On Monday, Judge Robert Cahill heard powerful statements from the two women injured in the carjacking, one a retired schoolteacher and the other an accomplished optometrist with a long history of public service. 

He also heard about Belton’s juvenile criminal record, which included previous carjackings, as well as his history of leaving or being kicked out of nearly every program meant to help him.

As part of the plea deal, Belton admitted being the gunman but he didn't fulfill his part of the plea bargain, according to Assistant State's Attorney Ryan Fish. Because Belton didn't live up to his bargain, the judge was not bound to the 25-year sentence previously agreed upon.

Cahill called 19-year-old Belton “dishonorable and defiant” and sentenced him to a total of 75 years in prison, the maximum sentence for his three charges. No probation. No suspended sentence.

"I’m going to sentence this defendant to every minute of jail time I can,” Cahill said. 

Belton’s attorney conceded the victims’ stories were moving and said his client was born drug-addicted and had suffered a trauma-filled childhood. Attorney Donald Wright said Wolfe supplied his client with drugs and a gun that night. Wright had asked for a sentence that was “sufficient but not excessive.”

In March, Wolfe was found guilty at trial of armed carjacking, assault, and a firearms offense, even without Belton’s testimony. His sentencing is set for July 31. The victims saw a third suspect that night, but that person has not been publicly identified or arrested, according to prosecutors.

The charges stem from a carjacking around 10 p.m. Aug. 21, 2024, on Brattle Road in Pikesville.

Valarie Smith, 67, had been unloading groceries from her 2018 Acura MDX SUV in front of her mother’s home when three masked attackers approached her. One pointed a gun at her.

Fearing she was about to be shot, Valarie Smith fought back. She sat on top of the gunman and hit him. A second man picked her up and threw her to the ground, she said.

“From the corner of my eye, I could see my mother, who was 87 at the time, running across the lawn,” Valarie Smith said. 

Edna Smith said she didn’t think or hesitate; she just ran to her daughter. 

“There is no greater instinct than that of a mother hearing her child call out in danger,” Edna Smith said.

Edna Smith said she begged the attackers to stop. In the chaos, her daughter’s hand was caught in the car door. Wolfe, who had gotten into the driver’s seat, drove forward with Belton in the passenger seat and the unidentified attacker in the back seat. In doing so, the car dragged Valarie Smith and ran over Edna Smith. 

Valarie Smith hit her head on a curb and suffered a brain bleed, a hand injury, and a broken toe. She was left with nerve damage and now has seizures. She has not been able to work since the attack. 

Edna Smith said she believed she was going to die when she felt the weight of the car rolling over her body.

Her pelvis and leg were crushed, and her leg, foot, and ankle were broken. She suffered a collapsed lung and numerous other injuries. She was not able to return home from treatment for three months.

When Edna Smith approached the prosecutors’ desk at sentencing to read her statement, she did so pushing a rolling walker and wearing a neck brace, the result of a neck injury from a fall last December.

Edna Smith, who taught for 26 years in Baltimore public schools, told the judge of her lifelong commitment to helping others, especially young people. She said she made sure her classroom was a place children were seen. Many of those children stayed connected with her long after their school years, she said. Some even came to live with her when they needed stability, care, and love.

Before the carjacking, she said, she was living a vibrant, independent life and needed little help. She walked unassisted. She still drove. She’d recently been on a cruise. 

“I lived with dignity, and that life was taken from me,” Edna Smith said. She no longer lives independently.

“Some days the pain is so severe, I can’t walk at all,” Edna Smith said.

Valarie Smith said she had chaired an organization that mentors young African American men ages 11-18.

“I keep wondering if, under different circumstances, at some point, could I have made a difference in the lives of these young men?” Valarie Smith said.

Belton started getting into trouble at a young age and had 42 placements through the Department of Juvenile Services, Assistant State’s Attorney Ryan Fish said. 

He absconded from or was removed from all but one of the programs he was placed in, Fish said. Since his arrest, Belton has racked up several violations while behind bars, he said.

Wright said his client is “profoundly remorseful” and wept when he was shown a photo from the crime scene.

“He has had a terrible 18 years. He’s endured trauma after trauma after trauma and has had horrific circumstances in his childhood,” Wright said.

Given an opportunity to address the court, Belton said, “I’m very sorry and I just hope those ladies can forgive me.”

Wright had asked Cahill to sentence his client to a total of 60 years and suspend all but 18 years. 

Cahill sentenced Belton to 30 years for armed carjacking, 20 years for using a firearm in the commission of a felony, and 25 years for first-degree assault. The sentences are to run consecutively. 

“These are people who are everything our community ought to strive to be,” Cahill said of the victims.

“When Valarie said she wonders if she could have made a difference in the lives of these men, I don’t think she could have made a difference in the life of Mr. Belton,” Cahill said.