Man Pleads Guilty to Attempted Murder of Aunt and Her Boyfriend in Elkridge

Twenty-four-year-old Edvin Giovanni Ceron Reyes—one of two men charged in connection with a that left 11 people displaced in February—pleaded guilty on Dec. 20 to two counts of attempted murder in Howard County Circuit Court.

Police said that eleven people were inside the house at 6345 Loudon Avenue when it was set on fire on Feb. 18, and all escaped without serious injury.

In August, Reyes and co-conspirator Santiago Gonzalez-Miner  on 11 counts of attempted murder and 2 charges of arson.

According to the plea agreement in the case of the State of Maryland vs. Edvin Giovanni Ceron Reyes, the defendant agreed to plead guilty to two counts of attempted murder in exchange for a maximum ten-year sentence for each.

“The statutory penalty is a life sentence for each count,” said Judge Lenore Gelfman, during the hearing.

When asked for verification by his attorney, Reyes said "si," affirming that it was true he attempted to "kill and murder" a woman and her boyfriend inside the Loudon Avenue home.

The woman was Reyes' aunt. According to court documents, Reyes told police that "he was upset" that his aunt had left her husband—Reyes' good friend, Gonzalez-Miner—for a man who was "younger."

That was one piece from the "statement of facts" read by State's Attorney Ned Curry at Reyes' plea hearing, a compilation of testimony from victims, police, the fire marshal, a forensic scientist and the two defendants.

According to the "statement of facts," Reyes said that the idea to set the fire was Gonzalez-Miner's, and Gonzalez-Miner said that the one who proposed it was Reyes.

After remaining expressionless for most of the hearing, Reyes scrunched his face when the prosecution read that Gonzalez-Miner told police that Reyes said, "'Let's teach them a lesson,'" and that Gonzalez-Miner said, "'I told him no.'"

Reyes’ public defender said that although he did not necessarily agree with everything reported in the “statement of facts," his client would agree to the terms of the plea agreement.

Under the agreement, nine counts of attempted murder and two counts of arson will be dropped at Reyes' sentencing hearing next month, and prosecutors will recommend a 20-year sentence followed by deportation.

Reyes was in the United States illegally and is currently on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer, said prosecutors.

"[Reyes] does have an ICE detainer and on conclusion of his sentence will be removed from the United States to Guatemala," said State's Attorney Claude de Vastey-Jones during Reyes' plea hearing.

Co-conspirator to Guatemala following his time served, according to the State's Attorney's Office.

An impact statement detailing the restitution owed to the victims was still being prepared as of Dec. 20, according to the prosecution, and is awaiting translation from Spanish to English. There was a translator in the courtroom on behalf of Reyes, who speaks Spanish, during the and Dec. 20 hearings.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Reyes on Jan. 19, 2012.