‘Look at me now’: Using neuroscience to help at-risk kids — and change Maryland’s juvenile justice system

Raynold Smith beefed with another man for months and when they crossed paths in March 2021, both were armed. The reason Smith didn’t pull the trigger? In a split-second moment, when life and death hung in the balance, he glimpsed a child’s car seat and suddenly realized everything his enemy stood to lose. Almost immediately, Smith felt a bullet rip through his leg, narrowly missing a major artery and immobilizing him for weeks.