Jury deliberates teen’s fate in Germantown murder

The mothers of the victim and suspect embrace after court and share wishes for new beginnings

Thursday, March 16, 2006

A jury continues to deliberate a verdict in the trial of Perry Kevin Sims Jr., a Boyds teen who is charged in the death of Stephone Wiggins, 23, a Germantown man who was beaten during a September fight near Seneca Valley High School.

The three-day trial ended with closing arguments Wednesday afternoon. The jury, made up of seven women and five men, began deliberations about 3 p.m. and went home about 6 p.m. Wednesday. They returned to Montgomery County Circuit Court and began deliberating again this morning.

After the jurors left the courtroom on Wednesday, Wiggins’ mother Stephanie Freeman embraced Sims mother, Bernice Henderson, and told her she wished they had met under different circumstances.

‘‘God bless you,” Freeman said, as her chin rested on Sims’ mother’s shoulder.

‘‘God bless you,” Henderson replied, during the embrace.

‘‘I’m sorry we met under these circumstances,” Freeman went on, with tears in her eyes. ‘‘I hope this can be a new beginning for us, spiritually as well.”

Henderson’s son, Sims, 17, is charged with second-degree murder and first-degree assault. He is accused of providing an 18-inch novelty baseball bat to Quatrell Oladele Adedeji, 19, of Germantown, who is accused of using the bat to strike Stephone Wiggins, 23, in the head.

Both men are accused of kicking and stomping on Wiggins, who died of his injuries Sept. 23.

Adedeji faces the same charges. His trial is scheduled for April.