Defendant Accepts Plea Deal Connected to 1993 Homicide Case

By D.C. Witness Staff - March 15, 2021
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | stabbing | Suspects | Victims |

More than four years after he was arrested for a homicide that happened in the early 90s, a defendant accepted a plea deal. 

Therion Bryant, 53, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter for stabbing 25-year-old Charlene Johnson on the 3600 block of New Hampshire Avenue, NW, on October 16, 1993. 

Bryant was initially charged with first-degree murder while armed. 

DC Witness previously reported that Bryant became a person of interest in 2014 after DNA from the crime scene was uploaded to an FBI database. Bryant’s DNA, which was already in the system, was a match. However, the FBI lost several samples of DNA related to the case and potential witnesses died. 

But in 2016, WUSA9 reported that DNA from the victim’s sexual assault kit matched Bryant’s, prompting his arrest. 

There were three other suspects in the case, including Johnson’s boyfriend; Daryl Turner, and a third suspect, who confessed to the stabbing while he was at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, DC’s psychiatric hospital, but later took back his confession. Both victims were ruled out because their DNA was not found on the scene. 

DC Superior Court Judge Juliet McKenna accepted the plea offer and its terms indicating that Bryant could face 4-12 years in prison and one year of probation. 

The prosecution agreed to waive all remaining charges in the case.

Bryant is scheduled to be sentenced on June 14. 

Dalvyn Velez wrote this article.