Tyana Keyshawn Holmes, 16, is charged with carjacking, robbery and unlawful taking of a motor vehicle
Two teenage girls are facing charges for carjacking a pregnant teacher outside an elementary school in Maryland, as two other girls are still being sought in the attack, police said.
Baltimore County Police are investigating the carjacking at Villa Cresta Elementary School in Parkville after four girls assaulted a teacher and stole her car.
The teacher, who is in the early stages of pregnancy, was not injured during the incident but did later respond to a local hospital to be checked by a doctor.
Tyana Keyshawn Holmes, 16, has been charged as an adult with carjacking, robbery and unlawful taking of a motor vehicle in connection with the violent ordeal at Villa Cresta Elementary School in Parkville on Friday. She’s being held without bond at the Baltimore County Detention Center, according to Baltimore County police.
Police also charged a 14-year-old girl, who is related to Holmes, also arrested and charged as a juvenile. She was not identified by police.
Detectives from the department’s Carjacking Unit are still trying to identify and arrest two other girls involved in the attack. Police are also still looking for the teacher’s vehicle, a 2013 black Kia Sportage.
Police said four girls assaulted a teacher and stole her car after approaching her as she left the building. The teacher wasn’t hurt but went to a hospital, since she’s in the early stages of pregnancy, police said.
The four female suspects, all believed to be in their teens, according to the statement of charges filed against Holmes, first stole a 2014 Ford Fusion from a Baltimore City school on Thursday.
Friday the juveniles drove up to Villa Cresta Elementary School where they were buzzed into the school when they said they were there to inquire about registering a child. After speaking with the office staff, they left the school and were in the parking lot as the teacher was walking out of the school to her car, carrying her purse and cell phone in her hand.
One of the teens got out of the car and slapped the teacher’s iPhone out of her hand, and the teacher ran toward the school, tripped and fell to the ground, the document said.
The victim told police she saw two other teens running toward her, and they began pulling at her purse. Dever said the teacher was punched in the face several times, and she began yelling that she was pregnant, but the teens continued to punch her in the face.
The 14-year-old defendant later admitted to police that they pushed the teacher to the ground, and she heard her yelling that she was pregnant, the document said.
One teen then fled in the teacher’s Kia, and the three other teens got back into the stolen Ford and fled the scene.
Police said the teacher was uninjured but went to an area hospital to be checked because she is pregnant.
Shortly after the carjacking, police said, the teens went to the Hope Academy on Edison Highway in East Baltimore, where they used the same ruse to enter the school, taking keys to a 2016 Dodge Journey and another Ford Fusion, and then fled in those vehicles.
Police located the Ford Fusion that was reported stolen Thursday at Hope Academy, and found the Villa Cresta teacher’s purse and identification inside.
A Baltimore City Schools police officer told county police he was aware of the carjacking and identified two of the suspects, including Holmes. Police matched Holmes and the other suspects to descriptions from the surveillance video from Villa Cresta Elementary.
When police executed a search warrant at Holmes’ address on Federal Street in the Broadway East neighborhood, they said Holmes was wearing the same clothing during the carjacking. Police found the Dodge Journey and other Ford Fusion nearby but not the teacher’s Kia Sportage.
Both Holmes and the other teen confessed their involvement in the carjacking and to stealing the first Ford to investigators, police said.
Two of the teens were arrested Saturday and police continue to seek two others for the incident, in which the teacher was punched before the teens took her purse, iPhone and car keys and one of the teens fled in the woman’s Kia Sportage.
On Monday, Tyana K. Holmes, who is charged as an adult, appeared via a remote video feed on a monitor at the district courthouse in Towson, where Judge Marsha L. Russell denied her release from the Baltimore County Detention Center.
The judge said Holmes is a public safety risk, noting her previous juvenile charges in Baltimore City, including carjacking and other offenses. She also cited the alleged circumstances of the case to deny release: The teens continued to strike the woman after she yelled that she was pregnant and they used a stolen car to commit the carjacking.
“She is a danger to the community,” said Assistant State’s Attorney Lisa Dever, who asked that Holmes remain at an adult facility.
A reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest in the case. Anyone with information is asked to call (866) 756-2587.
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