The teenager accused of shooting a Towson man during an armed robbery last year will be tried as an adult, a Baltimore County judge ruled Friday.

The teenager, who was 15 at the time of his arrest last year, is accused of being the gunman in a daytime robbery in the alley behind a home in the Rodgers Forge neighborhood.

His juvenile waiver hearing was held behind closed doors Friday, with a ruling coming after 6 p.m. At issue was whether the now 16-year-old should be treated as a juvenile or adult on charges of attempted first-degree murder, armed robbery and other gun charges stemming from the Sept. 13, 2023, shooting.

Mark McKenzie, 51, was cleaning out the back of his car around 11:30 a.m. behind the 400 block of Dunkirk Road. A gunman wearing a hooded sweatshirt approached, pointing a firearm at McKenzie’s head. After a brief struggle, McKenzie was shot once in the upper abdomen, according to police.

Two teens were later arrested and charged as adults.

McKenzie has said he suffered extensive liver and gallbladder damage. He was hospitalized on life support for 12 days and in intensive care at Johns Hopkins Hospital for 38 days, endured five surgeries, and has been told will likely suffer lifelong health consequences.

Friday in Baltimore County Circuit Court, defense attorney, Donna D’Alessio, asked to have the teenager accused of the shooting returned to juvenile status where he would be able to receive mental health and rehabilitation services. Court observers said a Department of Juvenile Services assessment recommended he be held in a staff-supervised juvenile facility as opposed to a more secure “lockdown” facility.

The teenager, wearing khakis, a gray sweatshirt and a skullcap, appeared in the courtroom in handcuffs and leg restraints. D’Alessio asked Circuit Judge Stacy Mayer to close Friday’s hearing to the public.

“There are confidential records that will be presented and discussed here and given that (the defendant) is a minor, that requires that those particular items and records not be made public,” Mayer said before granting the defense request.

Mayer removed all courtroom observers except family members and legal staff for the proceedings.

In a separate hearing last week, Circuit Judge Jan Alexander denied juvenile status to the teenager’s alleged accomplice, who was 16 at the time of his arrest and is accused of driving the getaway car. Judge Alexander found that boy, who had multiple contacts with the justice system as a juvenile, should be tried as an adult.

Both defendants have tentative trial dates of Oct. 22.

At both hearings, prosecutors played surveillance video of McKenzie’s shooting as well as video of a suspect vehicle leaving the neighborhood. McKenzie can be heard on the video desperately calling for help after being shot.

At the earlier hearing, McKenzie, a youth sports coach for nearly 20 years, recalled the day he was shot prepping for a game the following day.

“Hundreds of kids I’ve had the privilege of being a part of their lives had to learn via the news, social media, or through someone else that I was attacked and shot in the chest for no reason,” McKenzie said. “I had simply been in my backyard cleaning out my car so I could be ready for the youth sporting event I had volunteered to coach the next day. I never made it to that game, or to any other games during the entire fall regular season.”

Police obtained additional video from a home on Kenwood Avenue in Baltimore City, apparently showing the two teenagers pouring bleach on a white Kia Sportage, which police said had been reported stolen the day before. Video from inside the home shows the teen accused of being the driver handling a handgun, a detective testified.

The two teenagers also are accused in an armed robbery on an MTA bus two days before McKenzie’s shooting. Video footage from that incident shows two teens wearing clothes similar to those they were seen on video wearing the day of the Rodgers Forge shooting, according to court documents. In the MTA case, the two are accused of forcing a bus passenger to send money via CashApp to one of their mothers, according to court records.