Two teens charged in the 2024 shooting of a beloved Rodgers Forge youth sports coach pleaded guilty Monday just hours before jury selection was to begin in their trial for attempted murder and attempted robbery.

Kai Wilson and Kamar Thompson, both 17, opted for Alford pleas, in which they maintain their innocence but acknowledge that prosecutors have enough evidence to convict them. Courts treat them as guilty pleas when it comes to sentencing, which will occur later.

Baltimore County prosecutors charged the two as adults with attempted first-degree murder, attempted armed robbery, and other offenses related to the Sept. 13, 2024, altercation with Mark McKenzie in an alley behind his home as he cleaned out his car.

While the teens’ joint trial was scheduled for this week, prosecutors agreed to allow them to take Alford pleas on lesser charges.

Wilson, whom police and prosecutors say was the gunman, pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree murder and using a gun in the commission of a crime. Prosecutors agreed not to ask for a sentence of more than 25 years on the attempted murder charge, while the gun charge carries a mandatory five-year sentence without parole.

Thompson, who police describe as the getaway driver, entered his plea on a charge of attempted robbery, for which prosecutors said they would pursue a 15-year sentence, and the same gun charge. He told the judge he understood he was pleading to “accomplice liability,” which made him responsible for the outcome even though he didn’t fire the gun.

At the time of the crime, Wilson was 15; Thompson was 16.

Wilson smiled at times during the proceedings. Thompson was solemn and barely audible in his responses to the judge’s questions.

In their statement of facts, prosecutors described how McKenzie was unloading soccer balls in an alley behind his Dunkirk Avenue house when a masked person in a hoodie pulled out a semi-automatic handgun and said, “You know what this is.” The person, who police identified later as Wilson, struck McKenzie in the face with the gun; as McKenzie sought to defend himself, the gun discharged and struck him in the torso. Wilson then ran off, jumping into an SUV driven by Thompson, police said. McKenzie, meanwhile, called for help.

Paramedics transported him to Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he was in critical condition.

In previous court appearances, McKenzie said he suffered extensive liver and gallbladder damage. After 12 days on life support, 38 days in the hospital, and five surgeries, McKenzie is still not fully healed. Doctors have told him he likely will suffer lifelong health consequences.

McKenzie did not want to comment Monday, but in an earlier court appearance he described his shock at the senseless attack.

“I had simply been in my backyard cleaning out my car so I could be ready for the youth sporting event I had volunteered to coach the next day,” he said. “I never made it to that game, or to any other games during the entire fall regular season.”

The shooting rattled the quiet, leafy rowhome community close to the city line, where kids often play in the alleys and neighbors are tight-knit. Many knew McKenzie because he’d coached their children. The area’s council member, Mike Ertel, led a crime walk with police to assure residents the neighborhood was safe and that officers were searching for the assailants.

Police had to wait nearly a month before they could interview McKenzie due to his injuries. They arrested Wilson and Thompson shortly after the interview, in October 2024. Surveillance footage from Wilson’s sister’s home showed the pair using bleach to try to clean the SUV, contributing to their arrest.

Wilson and Thompson were also charged with an armed robbery on an MTA bus two days before McKenzie’s shooting. Video from that incident showed two teens wearing clothes similar to those seen on video in the Rodgers Forge shooting. The two are accused of forcing a bus passenger to send money via Cash App to one of their mothers. Prosecutors are dropping these charges in exchange for the Alford plea on the more serious charges.

Thompson will be sentenced at 9 a.m. on May 6 and Wilson at 9 a.m. on July 13.

The teens’ attorneys indicated they will argue at sentencing that their ages at the time of the shooting should be considered as mitigating factors.