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Three of the teens who pleaded guilty to the May 2008 beating death of a Hyattsville man will serve at least 10 years in an underage correctional facility, a Prince George's County Circuit Court judge ruled April 16.

The teens, members of the Skull Crushers gang, were sentenced as adults for the second-degree murder of Aboubacar Camara, 56.

Judge Beverly Woddard sentenced the teens to 25 years in prison but suspended 15 of those years, meaning that if they violate their probation after they are released, they will likely have to serve the remainder of the 25-year sentence, said Ramon V. Korionoff, spokesman for Prince George's County State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey (D).

According to charging documents, Calaisha Vaughn of Riverdale and Bladensburg residents Marcus Williams and Regina Young-Bey, all 15 years old, attacked Camara on the steps near Bladensburg Elementary School on May 28.

The attack began when Vaughn asked Camara for a cigarette, and he replied that he didn't smoke. Young-Bey then knocked Camara to the ground by bumping his shoulder, and the teens kicked and beat him as he coughed up blood.

The teens fled the scene, and Camara was taken to the Prince George's Hospital Center in Cheverly, where he died two days later.

A fourth teen, 16-year-old Justin McBride of Bladensburg, also kicked Camara and was tried as a juvenile. On Dec. 15, 2008, he pleaded involved, the equivalent of guilty.

The court recommended Vaughn, Williams and Young-Bey to be incarcerated in the Patuxent Institute Correctional Facility for underage offenders.

Elizabeth L. Cawood, Young-Bey's defense attorney, said although she had hoped her client would have been sent back to juvenile court, she was pleased Young-Bey will serve her time with offenders her own age at the Patuxent Institute.

"It does have counseling and it does have educational and treatment programs so youthful offenders will make the best use of their time while they're incarcerated," Cawood said. "It's so that she will learn from her mistakes and eventually be a productive member of society."

Vaughn's attorney, John McKenna, agreed.

"I think that it's appropriate, that the sentence isn't at the end of the guidelines," McKenna said.

Thomas A. Pavlinic, the attorney representing Williams, agreed that the underage facility was the best option for his client, although he had wanted Williams to be tried as a juvenile as well.

"When I went down to see [Williams], he was crying and so remorseful that he had hurt this innocent man and how he had disappointed his family," Pavlinic said. "But there's no denying the seriousness of the crime. It's a horrific crime… I'm not sure that these four teenagers realized what they were doing."