Teen receives maximum sentence for shooting Rodgers Forge soccer coach

A Baltimore County judge on Monday handed down the maximum sentence when he ordered a teen to serve 25 years in prison for shooting and severely wounding a beloved youth soccer coach in Rodgers Forge during an attempted robbery.

Circuit Judge Robert Cahill Jr. said “the facts of this case could hardly get any worse” as he sentenced Kai Wilson for attempted second-degree murder and use of a handgun during a violent crime.

The sentencing guidelines called for a punishment between eight and 15 years in prison.

“A message should be sent to the community that certain conducts will not be tolerated,” Cahill said.

On Sept. 13, 2024, evidence in the case showed Wilson, who was 15 at the time, approached Mark McKenzie as he unloaded soccer balls out of his car. Wilson pulled out a gun equipped with a laser sight.

Wilson racked the slide, struck McKenzie with the weapon and shot him. Surveillance cameras captured the crime.

Cahill also ordered Wilson to spend five years on supervised probation after his release.

Wilson, now 17, of East Baltimore, declined to address the court.

His codefendant, Kamar Thompson, 18, of East Baltimore, who drove the getaway vehicle, was previously sentenced to 25 years in prison.

In his statement to the court on Monday, McKenzie recalled how he spent 38 days in the intensive care unit at Johns Hopkins Hospital and underwent five surgeries and 20 other procedures, amassing more than $500,000 in medical bills.

“You didn’t just attack a man,” McKenzie said. “You attacked an entire community.”

Because of the shooting, he added, he must schedule an additional surgery for later this year that has a recovery time of two to three months.

Assistant State’s Attorney Matt Darnbrough pushed the judge to impose the maximum sentence, describing the shooting as an “absolutely horrific crime.”

“This case involves such an outrageous demonstration of violence,” Darnbrough said.

Wilson, he said, was convicted in 2023 of malicious destruction of property in the juvenile justice system and received probation. His supervision ended less than one month before the shooting.

When Baltimore County Police arrested Wilson, he was in possession of a cellphone that he had stolen on a Maryland Transit Administration bus two days after the shooting, Darnbrough said.

Wilson’s attorney said her client takes responsibility for his actions and recognizes the harm he caused. Assistant Public Defender Donna D’Alessio, though, also argued that Wilson did not plan on firing the gun during the robbery.

D’Alessio said Wilson’s childhood in Baltimore was marked with trauma, instability, untreated mental health issues and exposure to violence.

Wilson at times experienced homelessness. He confronted food insecurity. Between 11 and 15, he was shot at seven times, D’Alessio said.

Since his incarceration, Wilson has been taking classes to finish high school and demonstrated “genuine rehabilitation,” she said.

“Kai is not beyond redemption,” D’Alessio said. “He’s not a kid who cannot change.”

Her client, she said, is more than the choice he made that day.