Man sentenced to life without parole for fatally shooting 2 teens near The Mall in Columbia

A man who fatally shot two teens near The Mall in Columbia while wearing an ankle monitor in an unrelated case was sentenced Friday to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole — plus 70 years.

Howard County Circuit Judge Stephanie P. Porter noted that Emmetson Zeah walked up to a bus stop near the mall, took out a gun, fired over the heads of a woman and little boy and caused the deaths of two young people: Blake McCray, 15, a freshman at Oakland Mills High School, and Michael Robertson, 16, a sophomore at Wilde Lake High School.

“It’s actually startling,” Porter said. “The calm demeanor. He was alone. No one else is influencing his behavior.”

At a bench trial, Porter rejected claims that he acted in self-defense and convicted Zeah, 19, of Columbia, of two counts of first-degree murder and related crimes.

Surveillance cameras captured the shooting, which happened before 6 p.m. on Feb. 22, 2025. At the time, Zeah had been on home detention with an ankle monitor as he awaited trial on charges including attempted first-degree murder in an unrelated case.

“Will Mr. Zeah’s behavior change?” Porter said. “None of us have a crystal ball. None of us know.”

Porter said she searched for signs that Zeah was remorseful. But she said she could not find any and concluded he posed “an extreme danger to our community.”

The crime was “deliberate, retaliatory and carried out in a public place with no regard for human life,” Howard County State’s Attorney Rich Gibson Jr. said.

More than four months before the shooting, Zeah confronted Robertson before a football game at Wilde Lake High School and tried to stab him with a knife.

Gibson called it “divine intervention” that no one else was hurt.

Though Gibson said he does not dispute the science that shows the brains of young people are still developing, he noted that crime is aberrant behavior. Most people, he said, do not commit acts of violence.

“There is no brighter tomorrow for Blake McCray,” Gibson said. “There is no brighter tomorrow for Michael Robertson.”

Zeah, he said, “did not care.”

Gibson sought two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole plus 70 years.

McCray’s mother, Marshay Eaddy, described him as a calm, sweet, thoughtful soul.

“My son was my light,” Eaddy said. “I loved Blake with everything in me.”

His grandmother, Katina Sharp, said McCray was a jack-of-all-trades who possessed a heart too big for the world. Her grandson tried to make everyone happy and ensure no one felt left out, Sharp said. He said his goal was to buy her a home.

Meanwhile, Robertson’s mother, Wanda Vereen, recalled how her son was the “apple of my eyes.”

Robertson, she said, aspired to play in the NFL but had a backup plan to become an engineer.

“The defendant took away my everything,” she said. “What a bond to break.”

His aunt, Tiffany Terry, called her nephew a loving, kind, gentle young man with an old soul. But Zeah, she said, erased all his dreams.

“I can truly, honestly say I forgive him, and I pray for him,” Terry said. “Forgiveness does not mean it doesn’t hurt.”

Henry Roland Barnes, Zeah’s attorney, said he and his client acknowledge the pain and loss the two families have endured.

Zeah, he said, is the son of Liberian immigrants who’s tried to better himself while in prison. Barnes said he believed it would be a disservice to his client and the community to foreclose any possibility of release.

“Mr. Zeah is worthy of redemption,” Barnes said. “Whether or not he deserves it today is not why we extend grace.”

Later, Zeah’s pastor at St. John United Church in Columbia, the Rev. Hyiwot Teshome, and mother, Margaret Nyorkor, pleaded with the judge to show mercy.

Zeah then briefly apologized to the families.

“I grieve for you all,” he said, “and I pray for you all.”

He said he maintains his innocence.