A 16-year-old boy has been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of his 15-year-old girlfriend and her younger brother at their home in a Baltimore County suburb.

Keith Maurice James Jr. is accused of gunning down Giovanna “Gigi” Myrie, 15, and her 9-year-old brother, Steve Allen, inside their Gwynn Oak house on July 7, 2026. The children’s mother discovered their bodies and called 911 around 7:20 p.m. Both victims died from multiple gunshot wounds. Police described Allen as an “innocent bystander.”

According to charging documents, Myrie had texted a friend days earlier expressing fear after James allegedly threatened to kill her if she “messed around with other guys.” In one message she wrote: “Keith said if I cheat he finna put the gun inside me. Help me.” Investigators later found text messages on her tablet that echoed the threat.

On July 4, just days before the killings, Myrie and James Facetimed with one of her friends while lying in bed; the friend told police she saw James holding a handgun. On the day of the shootings, Myrie told the same friend that James planned to come over around 4 p.m. Cellphone location data and neighborhood surveillance video allegedly placed James near the home around 4:20 p.m. Footage reportedly showed him arriving and later leaving the area by bus.

James told investigators he had been seeing Myrie for about two months but had not seen her in person since July 4. He was arrested and charged as an adult with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of use of a firearm in a crime of violence. He appeared in court in an orange jumpsuit and remained silent as his attorney waived a bond hearing; he is being held without bail.

Baltimore County Police Chief Robert McCullough called the crime “horrific” and “troubling,” noting the young age of the suspect. “This case highlights for me a couple issues,” he said. “One is juvenile violence itself, violence by juveniles on other juveniles, and it also highlights the point that, as parents, we need to make sure that we know who our kids are associating with… It’s just dating violence, teen violence between people who have relationships, so we need to be mindful of those things.”

The investigation relied on witness statements, cellphone data, surveillance video, and ballistics evidence. James is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.

Sources

• New York Post
• ABC News