Delano Jurail Parham-Nash Jr., 20, of no fixed address
The St. Mary’s County Board of Education informed police that four suspects entered Great Mills High School in Lexington Park, at approximately 12:11 p.m., on January 17, 2024.
The suspects entered the school via the exterior doors located on the backside of the school near the JROTC trailer.
The suspects were able to make entry by mingling in with the students entering from the exterior trailer of the school, during which time these exterior doors are automatically unlocked to allow access during class change.
When they entered the school, they wandered the halls for over twenty minutes interacting with various students before being confronted by an assistant principal.
When the staff started approaching the suspects, who were now near the same doors they entered the school through, the suspects attempted to flee. The staff were able to block their escape and confronted the suspects.
The suspects claimed they were in the school to register, and the staff advised they could assist them. The suspects started to follow the staff towards the main office as requested, until they reached the nearest hallway intersection, at which time they sprinted away from the staff and out of the building.
The four suspects were identified as two juveniles and two adults, the two adults have been identified as Clifton Jermaine Cole Jr., 19, of no fixed address and Delano Jurail Parham-Nash Jr., 20, of no fixed address.
They were able to identify the suspects due to them being former GMHS students, who they are very familiar with and have had numerous prior contacts with. The staff advised two of the four suspects were wearing masks to conceal their faces. The staff told police that all the suspects are not current active students at GMHS and not active in the SMCPS systems at all.
Police obtained video and a photograph of one of the suspects posing for a picture inside the school with two of the identified juvenile suspects. These suspects were wearing identical articles of clothing as captured on video surveillance. The juvenile suspect standing beside the co-defendant is holding a handgun and the photographer is presumed to be another suspect.
A criminal summons was Issued for Parham-Nash and Cole on January 24, 2024. At this time only the criminal summons for Parham-Nash has been served.
Both men are scheduled to have a Preliminary Inquiry Hearing in St. Mary’s District Court in March of 2024.
The St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office said they would not be able to spare anymore deputies from patrol to add to the school resource officer that is already there and that school security personnel are primarily responsible for ensuring a safe environment.
The principal of Great Mills High School, Beejay Dothard said in a letter to parents that no evidence was found indicating the intruders intended to harm anyone.
On Saturday, January 20, 2024, police conducted a search and seizure warrant service on a residence on Radford Lane, in Lexington Park, for the purpose of locating one of the juvenile suspects wanted in connection with the incident. Detectives arrested a juvenile and recovered a handgun.
The juvenile was transported to the St. Mary’s County Detention and Rehabilitation Center to be charged as an adult with weapons-related offenses.
In a letter to parents, dated January 22, 2024, the Principal of Great Mills High School, BeeJay Dothard, stated the following:
The St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office and our administrative team investigated further and, on Friday, found several images of these young men posing for pictures while flashing what looked like a gun in secluded areas of the school building.
In a statement released by the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office on January 20, 2024, stated the following:
Additional investigation led to the discovery of photographs posted on a social media platform by the juvenile and depicted the involved individuals posing in various locations in the school; one photo showed the suspect potentially holding a handgun.
Court Documents state the following:
On 1/19/24, GMHS School Resource Officer Corporal Muschette sent me a photograph he obtained of the co-defendant posing for a picture inside GMHS with two of the identified juvenile suspects. These suspects were wearing the identical articles of clothing as captured on GMHS video surveillance on 1/17/24. The juvenile suspect standing beside the co-defendant is holding a handgun and the photographer is presumed to be the unidentified black male suspect. Cpl. Muschette confirmed the photograph was taken inside GMHS.
Both the Sheriff’s Office and the school downplayed the gun in the releases to the public, calling it “flashing what looked like a gun” and “potentially holding a handgun” but in official documents entered into court records, it was “holding a handgun”. The use of the words potentially or what looked like were never used.
