Chesapeake Beach teen held after knife attack at Budds Creek speedway

Baltimore man stabbed in chest

Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009

The 15-year-old suspect from Chesapeake Beach in Calvert County was charged with first-degree assault, the judge said, from the alleged attack on Adam Layman, a 21-year-old construction worker from Baltimore County.

Layman said this week that he was released Sunday afternoon from the Prince George's Hospital Center, where a Maryland State Police helicopter crew took him after a knife wound to his chest left him with a collapsed lung.

The stabbing was reported shortly after 11 p.m. Friday, according to St. Mary's officials, and Mechanicsville rescue volunteers initially treated the injured man before he was taken to the helicopter that had touched down outside a store across a highway from the speedway.

Layman said he was visiting the speedway, originally hoping to watch dirt-oval car races that ultimately were canceled because of a thunderstorm. He planned to stay over for Saturday's motocross motorcycle races.

"I was just over by my friend's mobile home" at the camping site, Layman said, when he tried to quell a disturbance involving some younger people. "I was telling the boys to leave," Layman said. "We started arguing. It all happened so fast. I just remember falling, and I guess that's when the kid stabbed me.

"I'm doing good," Layman said Monday as he continued his recovery at home.

St. Mary's Assistant State's Attorney Julie White requested in court that the juvenile suspect in the case remain in custody until further proceedings. "We would ask that he be detained given the serious nature of the charges," the prosecutor said.

John McKenna, the boy's lawyer, said his client was scheduled to begin his junior year in high school this week, and that his only prior infraction was from once bringing alcohol to school. The lawyer asked that the boy be released to his parents, who sat with him during the court proceeding.

"They're all very distraught over what took place," McKenna said. "There is certainly a self-defense issue that would be raised by the police report. He's never been in trouble, [and has] no history of violence whatsoever."

Circuit Judge Michael J. Stamm, presiding at the juvenile court proceeding, said the previous alcohol infraction was not an issue, but that the assault charges warranted keeping the boy at the Cheltenham Youth Facility.

"They're only allegations, but they're very bad allegations," Stamm said. "I do not feel comfortable allowing him to return to his home at this point."

jwharton@somdnews.com