Sentencing for Jaylen Prince, the 16-year-old found guilty of murder in the shooting death of 15-year-old Warren Grant inside Joppatowne High School, was delayed this week. It is now set for Sept. 19 in Harford County Circuit Court.

Prince, of Edgewood, was charged as an adult in Grant’s September 2024 death, and found guilty in May of first-degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, possession of a dangerous weapon on school property, possession of a loaded firearm, possession of a firearm on person, and minor in possession of a firearm.

He faces a maximum penalty of life in prison plus 28 years.

The previous date set for Prince’s sentencing was Tuesday but the hearing was postponed, according to virtual court records. The Harford County State’s Attorney’s Office did not state a reason for the postponement.

On Sept. 6, 2024 Prince attended his first day at Joppatowne High School, four days into the new school year. Evidence presented during his trial showed that Prince wore a backpack throughout the school day, which is prohibited in Harford County Public Schools. School policy mandates that students store backpacks in lockers.

During a class change, Prince and Grant ran into each other inside one of the school’s bathrooms. Witnesses said that Prince initiated a verbal fight over Grant’s girlfriend. Cellphone footage taken by one of the many students in the bathroom at the time of the shooting showed Prince and Grant  arguing and moving toward the bathroom entrance when Prince blocked the door and prevented Grant from leaving.

The video captured Prince telling Grant “I will kill you” four times.

Prince then pulled from his backpack a 9mm privately built Polymer80 handgun that prosecutors referred to as a “ghost gun.” Prince cocked the gun and told Grant “I will kill you in here,” and then fired a single shot into Grant’s chest.

Prince testified during the trial in his own defense, and said he carried a gun into the school to protect himself. He said that he did not fire the gun but that it “accidentally went off.” His attorney, Staci Pipkin, said Prince fired the gun because he feared he was going to get jumped by Grant’s friends who were in the bathroom.

After the shooting, students could be seen on school surveillance footage carrying Grant’s body from the bathroom and toward the school’s library, as they looked for help. Grant was later transported to the hospital where he died.

The single shot sent panic throughout the school with large crowds of students running for school exits, and teachers sheltering in place in classrooms. Surveillance footage showed Prince immediately leave the bathroom and join a large group of students as he fled school grounds. At some point after he left the school, prosecutors said Prince dumped the handgun. It has not been recovered.

Prince was arrested the same day in a stairwell of an apartment complex less than a mile from the high school after a resident called police because he heard Prince on the phone outside of his door saying, “I shot him … I hurt him … I think I ruined my life,” according to witness testimony.

During the sentencing hearing, Prince’s family and Grant’s family will have the opportunity to address the court. Since Prince is facing the possibility of life without parole, Prince underwent a pre-sentencing investigation which analyzes his upbringing and other background information.

The investigation is used as a tool for the court to help gauge an appropriate sentence for an offender and gauge the likelihood that an offender could offend again. The findings of the investigation will be presented before Judge Yolanda Curtin during the hearing.

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