FREDERICK SAO CHIEF APPOINTED TO GOVERNOR’S JUVENILE GRANT PLANNING AND REVIEW COUNCIL

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FREDERICK, MD – Frederick County State’s Attorney’s Office Juvenile Division Chief Laura Wilt was appointed for three years to Governor Hogan’s Juvenile Grant Planning and Review Council. The Council is Maryland’s State Advisory Group to fulfill guidelines laid out in the Federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) of 1974. The Council falls under the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention (GOCCP).

 

State’s Attorney Charlie Smith commented, “our juvenile justice system plays an underappreciated and critical role in crime reduction and the public safety of our communities.  Funding is not only essential, but it is smart fiscal policy.  I can’t help but once again tout the leadership of this Office on important statewide issues, and congratulate Laura Wilt on her appointment by the Governor.”

 

Members of the Council must have training, experience, or special knowledge concerning adolescent development, the prevention and treatment of juvenile delinquency, the administration of juvenile justice, and the reduction of juvenile delinquency.  The Governor must appoint a minimum of 15 professionals to the Council, and a maximum of 33.

 

As part of the Council, Ms. Wilt will take on key objectives including work on aftercare and reentry, juvenile justice system improvement, delinquency prevention, and community-based programs and services. The focus will continue to be on community-based programs that prepare targeted youth to successfully return to their homes and communities after confinement in a training school, youth correctional facility, or other secure institution. These programs focus on preparing youth for release and providing a continuum of follow-up, post-placement services to promote successful reintegration into the community. The Council also addresses programs, research, or other initiatives to examine issues or improve practices, policies, or procedures on a system-wide basis (e.g. examining problems affecting decisions from arrest to disposition and detention to corrections). Delinquency prevention is targeted through programs that meet the needs of youth through collaboration of the many local systems before which a youth may appear, including schools, courts, law enforcement agencies, child protection agencies, mental health agencies, welfare services, health care agencies, and private nonprofit agencies offering youth services.

 

Laura Wilt

Juvenile Division Chief,

Frederick County State’s Attorney’s Office

 

FREDERICK MAN INDICTED FOR MURDER IN WATERSIDE SHOOTING

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 18, 2020

FREDERICK, MD –                                  INDICTMENT

This morning, the Frederick County Grand Jury indicted Jordan Burris Hooks, age 27, of Frederick on charges of 1st Degree Murder, 1st Degree Assault, Use of a Firearm in a Felony, and handgun on-person. Hooks is held without bond at the Frederick County Adult Detention Center.

 

                                                                  BACKGROUND

On the evening of Friday, September 11, 2020, Frederick County Sheriff’s Office detectives arrested Jordan Hooks, 27, of Frederick and charged him with 1st Degree Murder for the homicide of Mr. Jaemari Anderson that occurred on September 6, 2020. Through the process of the investigation, detectives were able to determine that Anderson and Hooks were described as close friends and were both at Hooks’ house throughout the day and evening of September 6th. During the execution of a search warrant served at Hooks’ residence on Waterview Court, detectives located Anderson’s cell phone and other personal property in Hooks’ basement that Mr. Anderson was known to always carry with him.

 

Additional evidence obtained included videos from Hooks’ cell phone, believed to have been recorded on September 5th, depicting Hooks and several others in his basement smoking and brandishing handguns. At one point, Hooks is seen holding and pointing a silver-colored handgun at the camera.

 

When interviewed, Hooks confirmed that he and Anderson had been together during the day of the homicide, but that he had not had contact with Anderson for a period of time prior to the shooting, claiming that Anderson had left his house to meet his girlfriend. Hooks had no explanation for why Anderson would leave his cell phone and other personal property items at his house when Anderson left.

During the course of the investigation, detectives learned that on September 6th there had been a confrontation involving Anderson in Hooks’ basement. This led to Hooks and Anderson agreeing to a physical fight outside. The investigation revealed that when Anderson left the room, Hooks pulled a handgun from the couch, similar to the one he had been waiving around in the video, and put it in his waistband. The group then left the basement and headed toward the walking path in Waterside. Witnesses and neighbors describe hearing a single gunshot and seeing people fleeing the area.  Investigators located a single shell casing within a few feet of the victim.

Detectives are still considering this an ongoing homicide investigation. Anyone with information should report it to Det. Jason Brady of the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office.

 

An indictment is a charging document alleging criminal conduct.  All Defendants are innocent until proven guilty.

 

 

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