DC Superior Court Judge Neal Kravitz sentenced a shooting and carjacking defendant to 14 years of imprisonment in a hearing on March 20.
Travis Thomas, 18, pleaded guilty on Aug. 29, 2025 for his involvement in three incidents. Thomas pleaded to assault with intent to kill while armed for his involvement in a playground shooting at C.W. Harris Elementary School on the 5400 block of C Street, SE on April 20, 2025. The victim sustained one gunshot wound to his head.
Thomas also pleaded guilty to two counts of unarmed carjacking for his involvement in carjackings on Oct. 30, 2024 at the 400 block of 14th Street, SE and on Nov. 17, 2024 at the 1300 block of Massachusetts Avenue, SE.
Thomas was 17 at the time of the offenses and charged under Title 16, which allows juveniles to be tried as adults for certain serious offenses.
The prosecutors requested a 24 year sentence, 10 years for assault with intent to kill, and seven years for each carjacking charge. They expressed the seriousness of these charges, furthering their point that Thomas fired a weapon into an elementary school playground.
Prosecutors received two victim impact statements, one from the mother of the shooting victim, and one carjacking victim.
The shooting victim’s mother read a letter written by her son that said he had dreams of being in the military, but those dreams are crushed now because he has titanium plates from the shooting. She told Judge Kravitz that her son has anxiety every time he goes outside, and that he is still recovering emotionally and physically from the shooting.
“I lived every mom’s nightmare,” stated the mother as she read about that horrible Easter Sunday last year. Her body went numb when she got the call that her son had been shot, but it became much worse when she arrived at the hospital and saw that her son had to undergo brain surgery, said the mother.
“My son was raised right, some can’t say the same,” the mother continued. Her family has gone through so much physically and emotionally, but she forgave Thomas because, “God gave me my baby back, which is my greatest blessing, and for that I thank you.”
The next victim impact statement was read by the victim of a carjacking on Nov. 18, 2024 at an unknown location that prosecutors agreed to not charge Thomas with as part of the plea agreement.
“I let the prosecutors drop my charge in the plea agreement just so he could be found guilty,” stated the victim before she talked about the terrible night that “haunts” her. “ I was attacked by a group of boys who were hiding in the dark waiting for me to arrive. I was pulling into my own driveway when these boys put their hands on me and stole my car,” the victim said.
“But taking my car was the smallest thing you took from me, what you gave me was greater, fear,” said the victim. She added that her distrust in society has grown since the incident.
“You’re accountable to your God if you have one,” the victim finished.
Megan Allburn, Thomas’ attorney, said that Thomas is still a child who has experienced trauma himself. He is incredibly remorseful for what he has done, but he is also an insightful and thoughtful kid, said Allburn.
Allburn argued that the Youth Rehabilitation Act (YRA) should be considered, which allows people under 25 who are convicted of certain crimes to have their convictions sealed after they successfully complete their sentence and potentially offers sentencing flexibility.
Allburn noted Thomas’ age at the time of the offenses and his “bright future.” Thomas obtained his high school diploma while he was incarcerated, and he has recently been accepted into six colleges.
Prosecutors strongly opposed the YRA sentence because of concerns it would not protect the community, nor deter Thomas from future crimes.
Thomas addressed Judge Kravitz and indicated he’s reformed since his arrest saying, “the 11 months I served was not my punishment, but my savior, and I hope you all can forgive me.”
Judge Kravitz said he favored the YRA sentence, but he also wanted to focus on protection for the community and punishment for Thomas’ crimes.
Judge Kravitz settled on a term at the bottom of the guidelines, sentencing Thomas to eight years for assault with intent to kill, three years for each carjacking charge, and five years of supervised release. These sentences will run consecutively to each other.
No further dates were set.
