DC Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman imposed a partially suspended sentence for a homicide defendant on May 15.
On Jan. 23, Faizon Mason, 23, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and carrying a pistol without a license for his involvement in the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Wayne McDaniels The incident occurred on Feb. 10, 2025 at Union Station on the unit block of Massachusetts Avenue, NE.
Many McDaniels’ family members provided victim impact statements during the hearing, including his mom, who stated, “Not a day goes by that I don’t miss my child.”
“To you, Faizon Mason, you took a big part of my life. Whatever went down, and how it went down… you chased my son down like an animal and killed him. You still have your life, right? Your mama can still talk to you, right? I can’t talk to my son, unless I talk to his ashes,” McDaniels’ mom cried
She continued, stating “Y’all have to stop and think about your actions before you do it. Carrying a gun doesn’t make you a man, it makes you a coward.” McDaniels’ mom further argued the family’s disagreement with the plea deal, saying “I’m not happy with the verdict of manslaughter. My son was shot in the back, chased down.”
“Faizon Mason, you have a lot of thinking to do. A lot to think about while you’re behind bars. Whatever your sentence is today, I hope and pray that you learn your lesson from this. And I hope and pray that you never get out of jail,” she concluded.
McDaniels’ girlfriend’s mom highlighted the suffering McDaniels’ and Mason’s families are enduring, stating “two lives lost, two mothers suffering.”
The prosecution argued,“iI’s safe to say that this is obviously a very tragic case,” claiming it stemmed from McDaniels and a group of friends trying to rob Mason at Union Station at gun point, with surveillance footage depicting McDaniels pressing a gun to Mason’s side.
“This is a case of gun violence, that could’ve been easily preventable,” the prosecution insisted, stating Mason went to Union Station armed with a firearm he illegally possessed, and McDaniel swas attempting to commit a crime during the incident. However, they argued, when the shooting occurred, McDaniesl was no longer posing a threat to Mason, who still decided to shoot at him multiple times, surrounded by commuters who could’ve also been injured.
“Firing as [McDaniels] is running away is extremely concerning,” the prosecution argued, asking for a guideline compliant sentence, which would be 48-to-120 months for manslaughter, and six-to-24 months for carrying a weapon, but did not provide a specific request.
Destiny Fullwood-Singh, Mason’s attorney, highlighted the tragedy that was this case, but argued Mason took full responsibility for his involvement. She insisted Mason did not go to Union Station looking for McDaniels or for anything, and argued he was followed into an enclosed space and McDaniels attempted to rob him at gunpoint.
“It was a wrong response to a real armed threat,” Fullwood-Singh said. She argued Mason has untreated complex post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from repeated violence, has an IQ of 73, and was robbed twice earlier that week.
She further argued that despite McDaniels running away, Mason didn’t feel safe because his threat detection response was harmed by years of violence and victimization.
She requested Judge Edelman impose a sentence under the Youth Rehabilitation Act (YRA) of 18 months for voluntary manslaughter, suspended, with a concurrent sentence for the carrying a pistol charge.
The YRA allows for a defendant’s conviction to be sealed if they successfully complete all sentencing requirements. The defense highlighted several mitigating factors, including factor one, which allows for the defendant’s conduct to be partially excused if the victim was an aggressor, initiator, provoker or willing participant of the incident, in order to get a sentence below the sentencing guidelines.
Fullwood-Singh also read a letter written by Mason, in which he stated “‘I’m sorry’ doesn’t feel like enough.” He argued he acted out of fear during the incident, stating McDaniels “still had the gun in his hand,” as he ran away.
“This was a horrible mistake,” Mason said in the letter, adding he’ll spend the rest of his life regretting what he’s done.
“This is just terrible,” Judge Edelman stated, arguing there were two lives impacted by this incident, with one being lost and the other being locked up.
“It was reckless. This wasn’t something that just happened in the middle of the night in the corner of the street,” Judge Edelman said, stating everyone in Union Station was endangered.
He stated that despite McDaniels being the aggressor, “losing someone like that is a tragedy.”
“Respectfully, this was manslaughter,” Judge Edelman told McDaniels’ family, “the provocation was there by Mr. McDaniels, and I can’t ignore his violence.”
“Mr. Mason, you took a life, and you did so in a way that also endangered other people, and I can’t ignore that,” Judge Edelman avowed. He imposed a partially suspended sentence to try to motivate Mason to do well.
Judge Edelman imposed a 96 month sentence for voluntary manslaughter, everything suspended except for 36 months, and five years of probation. He is to serve a concurrent sentence of eight months suspended for carrying a pistol without a license.
Judge Edelman further ordered Mason to get his GED while incarcerated, undergo substance abuse and mental health treatment, and complete 90 hours of community service.
No further dates were set.
