A grand jury on June 27 indicted a Baltimore County police officer in the choking death of a 17 year-old. The indictment came two weeks after a rock-throwing incident involving the teen and the off-duty officer near Randallstown, authorities said.
James Laboard faces manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter charges in the death of Christopher Brown. Laboard, who is currently on leave without pay, surrendered to county police and was released on personal recognizance after a June 27 bond hearing.
“Once again, I want to assure everyone that this case was treated as any other case of this type would have been,” said State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger in a statement. “The fact that Mr. Laboard was an off- duty police officer had no bearing on the time that it took to evaluate the evidence and move this case forward to the Grand Jury.”
According to Ceandra Scott, spokesperson for the family, the teen was walking in his Randallstown neighborhood, Imperial Gardens, after a group of his friends asked him to join them outside. At some point, a rock was allegedly thrown at the LaBoard home, though not by Christopher, relatives said.
While there was no physical damage done to the house, Scott said Laboard allegedly chased the teen, who was rehabbing a torn ligament in his knee, for four blocks before pulling him out of a neighbor’s shrub and choking him with his bare hands.
Chris Brown, Christopher’s mother, told the AFRO before the Laboard indictment that, while detectives said there was no question about who killed her son, authorities took weeks to move on Laboard because his lawyer was “so busy he hasn’t had the opportunity to counsel him.”
Brown’s mother said she doesn’t want a public debacle or angry protests, but her breaking point came when she was asked to hold off on taking any legal action until Laboard could meet with his lawyer. She was preparing her son’s body for burial when the request was made, she said.
Chris Brown’s mother said her son was “a good kid.”
“If Christopher killed that police officer he would be behind bars right now and we would be doing all the checking behind him later down the line,” she said.
Loved ones described Christopher as a gifted athlete, a Junior ROTC member, and an usher at Colonial Baptist Church. He had recently been named Randallstown High School’s 2012 Unsung Hero and was a rising 12th grader. His funeral drew more than 600 people
“He was a child who would speak to everyone. He didn’t have to know you,” said Betty Allen, his great aunt. She described him as “loving, peaceful, and kind. “
She added, “We know where Christopher is, we just want to know how he got there.”
