Mom Sentenced In 2 Teens' Shooting

COLUMBIA, MD — A 48-year-old Columbia mom has been sentenced in connection to her role in the October 2024 shooting of two teens in a shopping center parking lot.

After a two-week trial, Dieneba Sekou Traore was found guilty by a Howard County jury in June of two counts of attempted second-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault, two counts of firearm use in the commission of a crime of violence and related conspiracy charges.

On Oct. 12, 2024, around 9:10 p.m., Howard County police officers were called to a retail shopping center located in the 8800 block of Centre Park Drive for a report of a shooting. Officers found two teens with gunshot wounds to their legs, lying in a grassy area between the Giant Food grocery store and IHOP, police reported.

Witnesses told police that they saw an individual fire shots at the teens before getting into the back passenger seat of a white SUV. After reviewing surveillance video of the area, police determined that the two shooting victims were among a group of four teens walking through the Giant Food parking lot. The white SUV was seen driving into the parking lot before the shooting and leaving the parking lot after the shooting. Police determined the vehicle was registered to Traore, who had previously reported to police that her son was the victim of an armed robbery that happened just five days earlier on Oct. 7, 2024.

Traore has been sentenced to 30 years suspend all but 20 years. After being released from prison, Traore will be placed on five years of supervised probation.

“This case is a tragic reminder of the dangers of taking the law into one’s own hands,” said State’s Attorney Rich Gibson, Jr. “Vigilante justice has no place in Howard County, and it will not be tolerated. Instead of seeking lawful avenues for accountability, the defendant chose violence; leaving two young people seriously injured and a community shaken. Today’s sentence reflects the seriousness of those actions and reaffirms our commitment to protecting our residents by ensuring that justice is carried out in the courtroom, not in the streets.”