Teenager Fatally Stabbed Near Party

She said she was impressed with how articulate he was, adding that he didn't just "grunt" at her the way so many teenagers do.

About 20 friends showed up, Wheaton said, and were having a good time eating the cake. "We even sang 'Happy Birthday,' " she said in an interview in the living room of her Germantown home. "These are the best kids."

For the most part, the partygoers, mostly friends from high school and college, were hanging out in the basement, playing pool and watching movies on the plasma television that has made Wheaton's home an attractive hangout for her sons' friends, she said.

Everyone at the party was invited, she said, and she knew everyone there.

She said she went to bed at 12:30 a.m. and didn't awake until one of her sons outside the house called about an hour later on his cell phone and said Babendreier had been stabbed.

Wheaton said the victim and another party guest had gone to Babendreier's truck, possibly to get a cigar, when they encountered the three men.

The police interviewed the partygoers, including the friend who had gone outside with Babendreier, Wheaton said.

The crime occurred in an upscale suburban neighborhood not accustomed to police lights in the middle of the night. "The police told me they never [are called] into this neighborhood, not even for petty crimes," Wheaton said.

The principal at Damascus High, Robert Domergue, said Babendreier was an honor roll student who planned to attend Salisbury State University in the fall.

He said Babendreier has a younger brother who is a sophomore at Damascus.

"He was a fine young man," Domergue said. "This is a real tragedy."