LANCASTER, Pa. — A Lancaster teen has pled guilty to multiple charges, including criminal homicide, following the shooting and killing of a man on Aug. 27, 2021.
According to the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office, Elijahuwon Brown, 16, pled guilty to charges of criminal homicide, possession of a firearm by a minor, and person not to possess a firearm.
Brown faces a maximum life sentence in prison, but because he was under 15 when he committed the murder, he will not be subjected to the mandatory life sentence that adults are.
Officials say the minimum sentence Brown faces is 25 years.
The murder occurred on the evening of Aug. 27, 2021, when the Lancaster City Bureau of Police responded to the 500 block of Third Street for the report of a man lying in the street after gunshots were fired.
Police later found 23-year-old Rolando Rivera dead at the scene. The Lancaster County Coroner’s Office later determined the cause of death to be multiple gunshot wounds to the head and torso.
Lancaster County police found video footage showing Brown and Rivera along the 500 and 600 blocks of Manor Street before the homicide.
Rivera and Brown were walking on opposite sides of the street, police say, but Brown eventually began following the victim west on Manor Street, still on the opposite side. The footage reportedly captured Brown raising a firearm and shooting multiple times at the victim, even after he fell to the ground.
Brown was charged, arrested, and prosecuted in early September 2021, and was committed to Lancaster County Prison without bail.
