Tevon Smith, a former Maryland Transit Administration light rail operator, pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment Friday in the death of 17-year-old Lamar Patterson, who was killed while driving to school in February 2022 when a train crashed into his car at a rail crossing in Linthicum.

“He was a humble, respectful, loving and beautiful soul,” Maxine Lloyd, Patterson’s mother, said through tears at the trial. “He was excited to become an adult, 18. He never made it.”

Smith accepted a plea deal in a courtroom packed with Patterson’s friends and family. The deal includes 60 days of detention, 16 months of house arrest and five years of unsupervised probation. Smith will serve six months in the Anne Arundel County Detention Center and the remainder of the sentence under house arrest.

Assistant State’s Attorney Carolynn Grammas played videos of the crash that showed Smith violated MTA’s light rail rules and regulations when he failed to stop for a full 30 seconds to allow a gate blocking the intersection to come down.

Smith stopped the train for three seconds and proceeded through the rail crossing before the light indicated that the gate was down. Patterson was driving a 2003 Honda Accord east on Maple Road around 9 a.m. when he entered the crossing and the train struck his car.

Additionally, Grammas showed that certain lights signal to train operators when the gate is fully down, but Smith proceeded through the intersection before the light showed it was safe. The lights at the Linthicum station were examined by MTA staff and determined to be working properly, according to Grammas.

Smith, 44, worked for the MTA from 2002 until the accident occurred. He lives in Cockeysville with his wife, five children and a nephew. Since losing his job with the MTA, he has been studying to become a barber. Because Smith frequently works with the Baltimore nonprofit “Bmore than Dance,” Anne Arundel Circuit Judge J. Michael Wachs waived a request for him to serve 100 hours of community service.

At the time of his death, Patterson had 32 offers from Division I football teams and had recently signed a contract to model for Under Armour.

“He was one of the most dedicated and talented athletes I have ever had the pleasure of working with,” Markette Williams, one of Patterson’s teachers at St. Frances Academy, said in a victim impact statement. “He was kind, compassionate and always willing to lend a helping hand to those in need.”

Defense attorney Craig Gendler argued that Smith “operated the train in the same way he did every day for three years and that it was a “perfect storm of circumstances” that caused the accident.

Grammas and Gendler both noted that it is common for train operators to violate the regulation requiring the 30-second pause. Grammas demonstrated with MTA data that train operators fail to stop for the full 30 seconds 75% of the time and Smith’s average was higher, at 91%.

“This is the type of case that is incredibly challenging,” Wachs said. “I do not believe that Mr. Smith went out hoping to commit a crime or harm anyone.”

Patterson’s family, friends and community are still reeling from the loss.

“To know Lamar was to truly love him. He lit up every room he entered,” Katie Geneti, Patterson’s girlfriend, said in a victim impact statement. “I was meant to spend the rest of my life with him.”