The St. Mary’s County teenager who has been jailed since June for seeking to have his parents killed, admitted guilt in juvenile court in Leonardtown on Friday.
 |
Cory Ryder, now 17, avoided a trial by accepting the prosecution’s charge that he solicited to have his mother killed.
Police allege that Ryder met with an undercover detective at a Lexington Park hotel on June 2 and offered to pay to have his mother and step-father killed. Ryder’s mother, Shannan Troiano, arranged the sting operation with police after hearing about Ryder’s motives from a friend.
Ryder was initially charged as an adult, but St. Mary’s Circuit Court Judge Karen Abrams ruled that Ryder be tried in juvenile court, before Judge Michael Stamm.
A sentencing hearing is set for Nov. 27. Due to being tried as a juvenile, the maximum sentence Ryder faces is incarceration until his 21st birthday.
Read more in this Washington Post article, chronicling Ryder’s worsening behavior and his mother’s futile efforts to discipline him.