Murder Defendant's Attorney Files Motion for His Release

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Defense attorney Kevin Mosley argued in a motion filed on May 30 that his client, Jelani Cousin, could be released from jail to stay with his mother pending trial without risk of flight or danger to the community.

Cousin, 18, is charged with second-degree murder while armed for his alleged involvement in the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Ashlei Hinds on Jan. 1 at a hotel on the 4000 block of Military Road, NW.

According to arrest documents, Cousin was attending a party in a hotel room with several other young people when an altercation took place. Cousin allegedly fired a handgun at the hotel room door from the outside, striking and killing Hinds on the opposite side of the door.

In his motion to modify Cousin’s release conditions, Mosley stated that Cousin has lived in DC his entire life and has many family and community members willing to attest to his character.

Mosley pointed out that Cousin’s mother, who has offered to house him with electronic monitoring, originally brought Cousin to the police station so that he could turn himself in two days after the incident for which he is being charged.

During a hearing on May 31, the prosecution asked DC Superior Court Judge Michael O’Keefe for more time to respond to the motion.

Mosley told Judge O’Keefe that one of the US Marshals who usually transports Cousin between the DC Jail and the DC Superior Court habitually harasses Cousin and calls him “the New Year’s Guy,” based on the date of the shooting for which Cousin is charged. Judge O’Keefe expressed willingness to end the harassment.

The next hearing is scheduled for June 28.

Murder Defendant’s Attorney Files Motion for His Release