Howard County man gets 25 years for role in fatal shooting of 17-year-old

Lance Carrington had just enrolled in homeschool, started a new relationship and was looking forward to getting a job once he turned 18.

“He was so close,” his mother Daishelle Carrington tearfully told a Howard County Circuit Court last week at a hearing for one of five people charged in connection with the 17-year-old’s fatal shooting on Jan. 14, 2025.

Associate Judge Stephanie Porter on Thursday sentenced 20-year-old Jeremiah Robinson to 25 years in prison and five years’ probation after a Howard County jury found him guilty on a charge of conspiracy to commit armed robbery and two firearm charges. The jury declined to deliver a verdict on a charge for use of a firearm in a felony violent crime.

Lance Carrington was found dead from a single gunshot wound in a parked vehicle in a residential neighborhood in Columbia in early 2025. Authorities said five young people, all of whom were teenagers at the time of the incident, conspired to rob Carrington of a gun in a plot that ended with his death.

Police said they believe that then-16-year-old Jemik Parker was the shooter. His trial for first-degree murder and other charges is scheduled for February. His attorney Samuel Nalli could not be reached for comment Friday.

Janae Baker, who was 18 at the time of the incident, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, and a sentencing hearing is scheduled for Oct. 29.

Charles Epperson Jr., who was 19, also pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, and a sentencing hearing is scheduled for Feb. 23.

In August, a jury found then-18-year-old Kendall Stagg guilty of seven charges, including first-degree murder. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Nov. 13.

Carrington’s family members delivered victim impact statements at Robinson’s sentencing Thursday. They described the teen as playful, social and spiritual.

He was supposed to make mistakes and to learn from them, his mother said at the hearing.

“He deserved to grow up,” she said.

Before Robinson’s sentencing, his public defenders asked the judge to consider that he did not pull the trigger and that he was only present for the incident out of worry for his younger brother, Jemik Parker.

Robinson, who is now 20, briefly told the judge that he understood the impact of Carrington’s death and was sorry for the the family’s loss.

Porter said the jury “spoke loud and clear” that they believe Robinson was part of the conspiracy.

Baltimore Banner reporter Darreonna Davis contributed to this story.