Teens Plead in Rodgers Forge Shooting, Face Decades in Prison Under Deal

The teens charged in a 2024 armed robbery and shooting of a Rodgers Forge man both entered pleas Monday, accepting responsibility for the crime.

Kai Wilson and Kamar Thompson, both now 17, entered Alford pleas to charges related to the Sept. 13, 2024, shooting of Mark McKenzie. 

An Alford plea means a defendant admits there is enough evidence to convict them but is not an admission of guilt. It is treated the same for sentencing purposes as a guilty plea.

A masked gunman shot and critically injured McKenzie, a longtime local youth sports coach, as he cleaned out the back of his car in the alley behind his home on the 400 block of Dunkirk Road.

Wilson, the accused shooter, was 15 at the time of the crime and was charged in Baltimore County Circuit Court as an adult. He entered a plea to attempted second-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. He will be sentenced on July 13. The state’s attorney is recommending a sentence of 40 years, suspending all but 25 years.

Thompson, the accused getaway driver, entered an Alford plea to attempted armed robbery and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Prosecutors are seeking a sentence of 30 years with all but 15 years of prison time suspended. His sentencing is set for May 6. 

As part of the plea agreement, Judge Robert Cahill agreed not to sentence either to more than the state’s recommended terms, but the defense attorneys can argue for a shorter sentence. Both originally were charged with attempted first-degree murder, attempted armed robbery, assault, and firearms offenses.

The pleas come as the teens were scheduled to start a joint jury trial today. Wilson’s attorney, Donna D’Alessio, had planned to challenge at trial the police’s identification of her client as the shooter.  She also said Monday that McKenzie thought the gun was a BB gun and grabbed it.

“My client is backing up before the shot goes off. The victim is kind of pushing him back. At that point, the shot is fired,” D’Alessio said. 

Thompson rolled his eyes in court as his attorney advised him of the details of the agreement and asked if he understood the concept of accomplice liability. In Maryland, accomplice liability means a defendant can be held criminally responsible for a crime even if they did not personally carry it out, as long as they helped or encouraged it.

“I understand you did not have the firearm in your hand, but you understand … the state is proceeding under accomplice liability?” defense attorney Alexandria Chun asked her client.

Thompson nodded and said, “OK.”

According to a statement of facts read aloud in court, the morning of the shooting, McKenzie was in the alley behind his home taking soccer balls out of the back of his car. A masked gunman approached him from behind, put a semi-automatic handgun to McKenzie’s head and said, “You know what this is.”

The teen hit McKenzie with the gun and, after a brief struggle, fired one shot, hitting McKenzie in the abdomen. Home security video shows the teen running away as McKenzie falls to the pavement. Police say Wilson got into a stolen white Kia Sportage driven by Thompson, fleeing the scene by running a red light at Dunkirk and York roads. Additional security video from later in the day shows the pair pouring bleach onto a car parked near Wilson’s home on the 1100 block of North Kenwood Avenue.

McKenzie suffered life-threatening injuries and underwent five surgeries and more than 20 procedures. He was hospitalized on life support for 12 days and in intensive care for 38 days. He currently has an additional pending surgery.

Adult charges in a separate case against Thompson were dropped as part of the plea agreement. In that case, Thompson was charged with armed robbery, assault, extortion, and firearms offenses from an incident two days before the Rodgers Forge shooting, according to court records. Those charges stemmed from an incident on an MTA bus on Sept. 11, 2024, where police say a bus passenger was forced to send money via Cash App to Wilson’s mother.

Juvenile charges against Wilson were also dropped as part of the plea.

Thompson had previously been arrested on an outstanding juvenile warrant for cutting off his ankle monitor and was on supervised probation through the Department of Juvenile Services at the time of the shooting, according to prosecutors. He was being held at the Baltimore City Juvenile Justice Center when he was charged on Oct. 10, 2024, in connection to McKenzie’s shooting. Wilson was arrested on Oct. 29, 2024, in a rideshare car. Prosecutors said he was carrying a backpack containing the same shoes seen in video of the shooting.