Yonatan Getachew, 18, was arrested Tuesday, April 28. Charges against him include attempted first-degree murder and three counts of first-degree arson.
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WASHINGTON DC (WTOP) – The family of an Ethiopian teenager accused in a plot to murder a high school principal tells WTOP there is misinformation about the case.
In an email to WTOP, a woman identifying herself as a cousin of 18-year-old Yonata Getachew says the family still can’t believe what they are being told.
Meklit Bekele contends that on the day the plot was uncovered, Getachew was not stopped by school security at Springbrook High School in Maryland, as police said, but was sent home for being out of class.
The family says Getachew wasn’t the mastermind of the alleged plot, and that they are not familiar with 17-year-old Anthony Nelson Torrence.
Torrence and Getachew are accused of conspiring to kill the Springbrook High principal, three counts of arson, and making flammable devices.
The Getachew family insists the only flammable devices in their home were incense sticks used in cultural ceremonies.
Both teens were ordered held without bond.
Related:
* Ethiopian student in Maryland charged with murder plot