DC Superior Court Judge Robert Okun sentenced two teen murderers to 18 years on Nov. 7 in a crime that started as a robbery over a pair of tennis shoes.
On Oct. 28, 2024, Anthony Monroe, 19, and Marlan Smith, 18, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder while armed and assault with a dangerous weapon for their involvement in the murder of 17-year-old Antonio Cunningham, and the shooting of another individual, on Sept. 11, 2023, on the 2300 block of Washington Place, NE.
The defendants, who were juveniles at the time of the incident, were charged as adults under Title 16. Through the deal, parties agreed to a sentencing range of 13-to-18 years of imprisonment.
According to the prosecution, the defendants were on a robbery spree the day of the incident, and attempted to rob Cunningham of his Balenciaga sneakers, when a legally armed samaritan intervened for Cunningham. Monroe and Smith shot Cunningham and the samaritan multiple times.
“To the murderers that stand before us today,” the surviving victim stated, “You shot me, and I’ve lived with this mental and physical hell ever since.”
“I’m reminded every morning of your cruelty, when I see myself in the mirror,” the victim said, adding he constantly lives in fear when he sees a group of young Black men.
“In my opinion, you are not worthy of freedom… You robbed Antonio and his family of the opportunity to live a long life. You brutally shot him in the head. I watched his lifeless body fall back as you brutally killed him,” he stated.
The victim continued, “Not only do you deserve the maximum sentence without parole, I ask that you spend the rest of your life in jail… Antonio will never have the opportunity to walk this earth again, so why should you?”
“Sept. 11, 2023 changed my life forever,” Cunningham’s dad stated, “That was the day that my son, Antonio Cunningham, was taken from us at only 17.” He deemed Cunningham “a young man, full of life, joy and dreams.”
Cunningham’s dad said he was more than just his son, recalling he was the family’s light. “He had a spirit that drew people in and lifted them up,” he cried. According to his family, Cunningham was playful, kind, and ambitious – he was killed on his way to work at Jersey Mike’s.
His dad told Judge Okun he walked across the stage in June to receive his high school diploma on his behalf. “He should’ve been there, walking that stage, smiling and proud of his accomplishments.”
“Since losing my son, life has been a living hell,” he insisted, adding that the family’s pain never leaves.
“To both of you, who took him. You destroyed something precious, something pure,” the dad continued. “You took a man who had so much to give. You deserve to feel the weight of what you’ve done.”
“I hope [your parents] understand the pain I live with every day,” Cunningham’s dad told Monroe and Smith.
“You took away my first born, my pride, my joy, and in doing so, you took a piece of me that I’ll never get back,” Cunningham’s mom cried. “You took away a future that was filled with promise… every moment is a reminder of what we lost, because of you.”
“I want you to feel the pain, emptiness, guilt and loss that we feel every day – you took our lives and you turned them upside down,” Cunningham’s mom said to the defendants.
The prosecution displayed pictures of Cunningham, surrounded by his family, to the court. “This light, and this wonderful kid, who is so dedicated to his family and doing the right thing… all of that is gone because of [Balenciaga sneakers],” the prosecutor told Judge Okun.
“That life was taken over tennis shoes – ugly tennis shoes,” she stated, adding that Monroe and Smith had been on a robbery spree in the hours leading up to the shooting, and “this happened because it was the predictable outcome.”
According to the prosecution, Monroe and Smith robbed multiple people in a stolen car with illegal guns.
“[Cunningham] was going to work to pay for nice things, which these two did not do because they were taking them from other people,” the prosecutor insisted.
Through the deal, prosecutors agreed to not seek additional charges for the robberies committed leading up to Cunningham’s murder, and multiple robberies that the defendants allegedly committed during the summer of 2023.
Prosecutors also agreed to dismiss two assault cases that the defendants accrued while awaiting a resolution in this case. “They couldn’t even get right while they were locked up,” the prosecutor said.
“Due to the enormity of their actions leading up to this, they have lost the right to walk among the community,” the prosecutor argued, requesting that Judge Okun impose an 18 year sentence. She cited the “brutality and viciousness” of their actions.
Stephen LoGerfo, Monroe’s attorney, stated that “this is a tremendous tragedy” for which Monroe has felt terribly about during his incarceration.
According to LoGerfo, Monroe endured a lot of trauma leading up to the incident, including his father tragically passing away in a car accident, and Monroe being shot twice months before Cunningham’s murder.
“He was in a very difficult place in life,” LoGerfo argued, stating Monroe had experienced post-traumatic stress disorder and the difficulty of adjusting medically and mentally to his circumstances.
“He had a single mom who tried her best,” LoGerfo stated, highlighting Monroe’s difficult upbringing, adding that he had “very very significant limitations,” at school due to his diagnosis of ADHD that went untreated.
LoGerfo requested Judge Okun impose a 13 year sentence, arguing that is more than enough time for Monroe to think about what he wants to do with his life and come back to the community a productive individual.
“I truly apologize for what happened that day,” Monroe said, adding “I never meant for it to go that way.”
“No doubt, Marlan was doing things he shouldn’t have been doing,” Thomas Key, Smith’s attorney, said.
According to Key and Rachel Goodman, Smith’s other attorney, had the surviving victim not been armed, the incident would have remained a robbery. He stated that a concerned citizen, who was carrying a gun, intervened in Cunningham’s robbery and approached them with his gun out.
The prosecution quickly disagreed with Key, stating that the surviving victim had his gun at his side, not pointed at the defendants when he approached them.
“In that second, it went from a robbery where they wanted the shoes, and turned it into a gun fight,” Key argued. “It’s not that he went out to kill somebody. Unfortunately, it was a consequence.”
Key requested Smith be sentenced to 13 years, arguing that “regardless of the time, it should be about thinking of what he did,” which he argued Smith does every day. “He is remorseful.”
“What is he going to do with those years,” Key questioned, requesting that Smith’s judgment and commitment order, which tells the DC Jail he can be transferred to serve his sentence at the Bureau of Prisons (BoP) be deferred until he finishes his high school diploma at Maya Angelou in the DC Jail.
According to Key, if Smith is able to get his high school diploma it’ll make him eligible to participate in most programs at the BoP.
“Instead of rotting like a potato in prison, is he going to be a person who, because he completed the diploma, is eligible to do additional schooling, learn a trade?” Key stated.
“Without that credential, he will be excluded from the opportunities he needs,” Goodman added, insisting that “Education is the foundation for rehabilitation.”
Key insisted delaying Smith’s sentencing order would benefit the community, stating “When he comes out, it would be best for everyone if he has learned a trade, if he is employable, so he doesn’t come back and get into this lifestyle.”
“I take full responsibility for what I did,” Smith told Judge Okun. “I was doing something I wasn’t supposed to be doing, I know that’s on me. I regret it every day.”
“I hope one day in the future you might be able to forgive me,” Smith said to Cunningham’s parents and the surviving victim, “I know I don’t deserve that right now, but I want to work every day to become someone better.”
Cunningham’s mom opposed the delay, while the surviving victim and Cunningham’s dad agreed to it to ensure he could get his education.
Judge Okun agreed to delay the order, as long as Smith remains compliant in the jail and does not accrue more disciplinary actions.
“In my mind, given the just awful nature of the crimes in this case, and the really significant number of crimes they were committing leading up to the case,” justified a higher sentenced, he said. ƒ
Judge Okun imposed an 18 year sentence for both defendants on the murder charge, and 66 months for the assault with a dangerous weapon, which will be served concurrently.
Both defendants will be required to register as gun offenders when released.
“You are really young, there’s no doubt,” Judge Okun said, “You’re still going to be young when you get out. For your sake, and the community’s sake, I hope you can both do well when you’re incarcerated.”
Smith is expected to return to court in August of 2026.
