In a preliminary hearing on Feb. 27, DC Superior Court Judge Michael Ryan found probable cause for first-degree murder while armed for a juvenile homicide defendant’s being tried as an adult.
Keyonte Johnson, 16, is charged with first-degree murder while armed for his alleged involvement in the shooting of Roy Bennett Jr., 20, on the 300 block of Morse Street, NE, on Dec. 5, 2025. Prosecutors can try juveniles as an adult based on the seriousness of crime.
Judge Ryan based his decision on the number of witnesses, the timing of the shots and the wounds the victim suffered.
A Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) homicide detective, who responded to the scene and investigated the shooting, agreed to have her arrest warrant for Johnson adopted as her sworn testimony.
This document included still images taken from surveillance footage at the apartment building where the shooting occurred. According to the detective’s testimony, several witnesses identified the person in these images as the defendant.
From an interview with an eyewitness, the detective learned that at the time of the shooting, the defendant was allegedly sitting on a couch behind the victim.
The detective also testified to listening to songs posted on the defendant’s Instagram story after the homicide. The lyrics mentioned the victim’s nickname, in reference to his getting shot and killed. Audio clips of these songs were played for the court.
The lyrics also mentioned Johnson’s brother. According to the detective’s testimony, a witness said the brother’s death could have been a possible motive for the shooting, insinuating that the victim was in some way involved.
The detective said the police responded to a 911 call from someone saying their nephew, Johnson, wanted to turn himself in for the Dec. 5 murder. However, Johnson did not give a statement when apprehended.
In the defense’s cross examination, Johnson’s defense attorney, Jessie Winograd, revealed there had been two different accounts of events from the eyewitness.
The detective said the eyewitness initially said he was in the bathroom at the time of the shooting and did not see it. However, several hours later he said he was only in the bathroom for the first shot, and saw the subsequent shots fired.
According to the detective, the witness initially lied because Johnson had threatened him.
Winograd also confirmed with the detective that much of the information about the shooting from various witnesses was not heard directly from the parties involved, but rathe from secondary sources.
The prosecution argued for probable cause for first-degree murder while armed based on premeditation and deliberation committing the crime. The prosecutor said premeditation was shown by the seven shots, which indicated that Johnson had the intention to kill Bennett.
The prosecution further argued that deliberation was evident due to actions Johnson took prior to the shooting. According to the prosecution this included Johnson’s telling an eyewitness to delete their call history, bringing a firearm to the scene, and sitting behind Bennett before shooting him .
The prosecutor said she was confident that Johnson was the shooter because he was identified by multiple witnesses.
Winograd argued that this shooting was more likely a spontaneous act, and no one knows why it occurred.
Witnesses said they did not hear or see any argument before the defendant and victim prior to the shooting. Winograd argued this means there is no probable cause for premeditation.
The defense argued that many of the witnesses in this case have a reason to lie and implicate Johnson, due to their close relationships with the victim.
Judge Ryan agreed with the prosecution that the number of shots fired satisfies the element of premeditation. He also found that the time between shots fired to different parts of the victim’s body counts as deliberation.
Parties are slated to reconvene March 26 to discuss bond review.
