Zyier Brown, 19, of Washington, D.C. was sentenced Wednesday to 13 years in prison followed by five years of supervised provision for his role in two armed carjackings.
His codefendant, Victor Noel, 17, of Upper Marlboro, previously was sentenced to 11 years in prison followed by five years of supervised provision.
Both men pled guilty to armed carjackings in Rockville and Gaithersburg.
According to the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s office, the men carjacked an Uber driver along the 1500 block of Shady Grove Road in Rockville on Oct. 22, 2022.
They also carjacked a man driving a Toyota Corolla along the 7800 block of Guildberry Court in Gaithersburg on Nov.14, 2022. In the incident, the defendants crashed the car following a high-speed chase on I270 with police.
In both incidents, a weapon was used.
Noel was 16 years old at the time of the incidents but was charged and convicted as an adult. Brown was 18 at the time.
According to the County State’s Attorney’s office, Brown purchased, built and brought the ghost guns used in the Nov. 14 carjacking and was the driver in the high-speed police pursuit that ended with them flipping and totaling the victim’s vehicle.
Both carjackers were recommended to serve their time at the Patuxent Youthful Offenders program while incarcerated.
A third co-defendant, Jayla Newman, 19, of Washington, D.C., who was present for the second carjacking but did not touch or threaten the victim and was not armed, was sentenced Wednesday to 331 days of time served plus three years of supervised probation.
“This comes at a time when we have growing concern about the rising number of auto thefts and carjackings committed by young adults and juveniles in our community. We thank Judge [Karla] Smith for fashioning appropriate sentences in this matter, to help discourage this type of activity,” said State’s Attorney John McCarthy.
In the incident involving the Uber driver, three men entered his car, two in the back seat and one in the front. The front passenger pointed a black handgun and ordered the driver to get out of the car.
He left the car but kept its keys. The men caught up with him, and two of them waved their handguns, demanding the car keys. The Uber driver handed over his coat with the keys inside, according to the State’s Attorney’s office.
19-year-old sentenced in Maryland armed carjacking case @TheMoCoShow https://t.co/sFoOF7QC79
— Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office (@MCSAONEWS) October 12, 2023
