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A Potomac teenager who is accused of robbing and killing a Gaithersburg man is a gang member, prosecutors alleged at his bail review hearing Tuesday.

A Montgomery County District Court judge ruled that Artie Ellis, 15, of the 7700 block of Scotland Drive, should be held without bail at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in Clarksburg until his preliminary hearing, which is scheduled for Friday.

Ellis and his girlfriend, Emily Drew Geller, 18, of the 8300 block of Larkmeade Terrace, were both charged as adults with robbing and killing Ali Reza Zare, 57, of the 15200 block of Apricot Lane in Gaithersburg. Zare's body was found the morning of May 10 by a jogger on the Bells Mill Road walking path, located near Bells Mill Elementary School and Cabin John Middle School.

The two teenagers lured Zare into a secluded area, struck him on the head with a shovel, robbed him and left him to die on the path, Gerald Collins, an assistant state's attorney for Montgomery County, said at Geller's bail review hearing Oct. 15.

Geller is also being held without bail at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility. Her preliminary hearing is slated for Nov. 13.

On Tuesday, Ellis' lawyer Patrick Smith argued that Ellis should be transferred to a juvenile facility because of his age. In arguing for Ellis to remain at Clarksburg, Collins said that Ellis had been identified by police as a gang member.

Smith said Ellis has previously dealt with attention deficit disorder and anger management problems, and has a history of hospitalizations at Potomac Ridge Behavioral Health, a Rockville mental health facility. He said Ellis attended school at the Phillips School in Virginia, which serves students with disabilities and emotional and behavioral problems.

Smith, along with Ellis' family, declined to comment after the hearing.

At Geller's Oct. 15 hearing, Collins said that Geller was acquaintances with Zare, though police have not said how they knew each other. On May 9, several phone calls were placed between Zare's cell phone and the landline at the Potomac home where Geller lived with her parents, Donald and Madelaine, just half a mile from where Zare's body would be found the following day, according to court documents.

Court documents state that two witnesses told police that Geller told them Ellis had struck Zare in the head with the shovel and left.

"Geller stated to one of the individuals that they did not mean to kill him and further told them not to say anything about what she had told them," the documents read.

Lucille Baur, a spokeswoman for Montgomery County police, said she couldn't comment specifically as to why the arrests were made Oct. 14 for the May slaying.

However, she said, "Our detectives believe this death was suspicious very early on in the investigation, but it did take them until [Oct. 14] to gather enough evidence to make the charges for homicide."

That day, a search warrant was executed at Geller's home, where the shovel was uncovered, according to Emily White, a spokeswoman for the Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office. Geller described the shovel to police in a statement before the search, White said.

The shovel is suspected to be the murder weapon, though further tests are needed, Collins said Oct. 15.

Collins said that after Zare was struck with a shovel, Geller and Ellis went through Zare's pockets and "left him there to die on the bike path."

Court documents allege the two stole Zare's Verizon BlackBerry Storm cell phone, a Macy's Visa credit card, a Maryland driver's license, cash, and a blue Subaru. The Subaru belonged to Zare's son, though he had been driving it at the time of Zare's death, according to court documents.

Around 1:30 p.m. May 10, police discovered the Subaru abandoned near Seven Locks Elementary School. Witnesses said that a "young white female" left the car and ran behind the school. Later, Geller's fingerprints were found on the vehicle.

That same afternoon, the Macy's credit card was used several times — by a man and a woman matching Geller's and Ellis' descriptions — in attempts to withdraw money from the Bank of America cash machine in Westfield Montgomery mall, court documents state.

The unsuccessful attempts were caught on mall surveillance video.

A search warrant executed at Ellis' home in May uncovered Zare's cell phone in a backpack in Ellis' room, according to court documents.

The Oct. 14 arrest was not Geller's first time in trouble with the law. She had been released on $10,000 bond in late August in relation to a previous felony theft charge. On Aug. 25, Geller was found driving a stolen vehicle along Interstate 270, according to court documents.

Police said Geller was driving the car, a Volkswagen Touareg, at night with no lights on and swerving in and out of traffic. After a police officer attempted to pull her over, she fled on foot, according to the documents. The officer used a Taser on Geller, according to the documents. Geller later told the police a friend had given her the car and that she knew it had been stolen.

Along with felony theft, charges from that incident included reckless driving and eluding police. A trial is scheduled Dec. 10.

Geller's parents declined to comment after the Oct. 15 hearing.