DC Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman sentenced a fatal shooting defendant to 18-and-a-half years in prison on Aug. 7.
Jakiem Miller, 28, pleaded guilty on May 6 to voluntary manslaughter while armed and assault with a dangerous weapon for his involvement in the fatal shooting of 30-year-old Avon Perkins on the 2400 block of 18th Street, NW on Dec. 17, 2022. Perkins sustained seven gunshot wounds and a nearby bystander also sustained a shot in the buttocks.
At sentencing, the prosecution claimed that the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA) miscalculated Miller’s sentencing guidelines. As a result, Judge Edelman adjusted the range of sentencing from 102-to-192 months for the manslaughter charge to 114-to-204 months and from 24-to-66 months for the assault charge to 30-to-72 months.
The prosecution asked for Miller to be sentenced to 17 years in prison for the voluntary manslaughter charge and six years for the assault charge. The prosecutor supported his request by emphasizing the seriousness of the offense, saying that Miller intentionally shot at Perkins nine times on a “busy street” and shot another civilian in the process.
According to the prosecution, Miller also tried to obstruct justice by convincing his grandmother to change her testimony. In addition, they said the pre-sentence report writer found that Miller didn’t appear to show empathy.
Miller’s attorney, Megan Allburn, said that the pre-sentence writer mischaracterized Miller’s feelings and asked for the low-end of the sentencing range.
“Acknowledgement of remorse could not be stronger today,” said Allburn.
Allburn said that Miller was in “survival mode” his whole life, which affected his split-second decisions.
“This incident did not happen in slow motion,” said Allburn. According to Allburn, Miller did not initially approach Perkins, and “everything changed” when Perkins punched Miller.
Miller said he “deeply apologize[s]” to both victims, apologized to Perkins’ family and the “innocent bystander.”
“I got to live with this for the rest of my life,” said Miller.
The bystander who was shot said that she still had “stress and trauma” from the incident four years later. At the time of the shooting, the victim said she was in college and “saw a man die in the street in front of me” and lived in “constant fear” of gun violence.
“In one devastating moment, my son was gone forever,” said Perkins’ father.
Perkins’ father said he wished he could tell his son to avoid DC and asked the court to impose the maximum sentence allowed. He said that “no sentence imposed by the court will bring my son back,” but there should be accountability for Miller’s actions.
Perkins’ sister recounted searching hospitals to find her brother on the day of his murder and said she “refused” to go to DC after his death. Before Miller accepted a plea deal, he had a mistrial. Perkins’ sister said the trial was “one of the hardest weeks of our lives.”
“Every delay forced my family to relive our grief again,” said Perkins’ sister.
Judge Edelman described the shooting as a “violent, reckless, terrifying offense.” The judge acknowledged that “Mr. Perkins initiated [the] offense” but said if they had only engaged in a fist fight, Miller might not have faced charges.
“[There was] no reasonable justification for what happened next,” said Judge Edelman.
Judge Edelman said Miller had a “somewhat substantial prior criminal record” but that he expressed remorse by pleading guilty and avoided disciplinary infractions during his pre-trial incarceration. He said that Miller’s charges were reduced in pleading guilty to manslaughter instead of murder, bt didn’t think the bottom of the sentencing range was appropriate.
Judge Edelman sentenced Miller to 18-and-a-half years total in prison. Miller was sentenced to 15-and-a-half years in prison for the voluntary manslaughter charge and three years in prison for the assault charge, to be served consecutively. Miller’s prison sentence will be followed by five years of supervised release.
As part of release, Judge Edelman said Miller will have to take a mental health assessment and register as a gun offender.
There are no further hearings scheduled in Miller’s case.
