Teen pleads guilty to manslaughter

One of three teenagers charged in September’s beating death of an Alexandria high school student pleaded guilty yesterday to involuntary manslaughter.

The 17-year-old Alexandria boy pleaded to juvenile charges stemming from the Sept. 13 death of Schuyler Hamilton Jones, 16. Under a deal with prosecutors, a second-degree murder charge will be dropped.

Authorities said the 17-year-old instigated the attack against Schuyler. By law, he can be jailed only until he is 21.

A status hearing is set for Jan. 13, but prosecutors have asked the judge to delay sentencing until the cases of the two other teens are resolved.

The trio were arrested Sept. 30 and charged with second-degree murder.

Patrick Casey and Brian Adem, both 16, are charged as adults and could get 40 years in prison if convicted. The two Fairfax County teens have been held without bond since an Oct. 1 court hearing. The 17-year-old was not identified because he was charged as a minor.

Probable cause was not found for charging the 17-year-old as an adult. He was released to his parents’ custody after a Nov. 4 hearing.

Schuyler was a junior at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria and a member of the school rowing crew.

The 17-year-old was a student at Bishop Ireton, a Catholic high school, and Patrick Casey and Brian Adem attended West Potomac High School.

On Sept. 13, the trio approached Schuyler in Market Square, said a detective. Witnesses said one suspect struck Schuyler, who told his attackers he did not want to fight.

He was knocked to the ground as he tried to run, and another suspect picked him up and hit him again, the detective said. The suspects left before authorities arrived.

Schuyler was found by police at 11 p.m. in the 300 block of King Street at Old Town Market Square. He was taken to Inova Alexandria Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Police said that after the beating, one of the teens asked a gathering crowd, “Anyone else from T.C. want some of this?”

Alexandria police initially downplayed school rivalries as a motive for the fatal beating.

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