A defendant accepted a plea deal for a fatal shooting in front of a row house before DC Superior Court Judge Danya Dayson on Feb. 27.
Damion Brown, 26, was originally charged with first-degree premeditated murder while armed, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, unlawful possession of a firearm with a prior conviction greater than a year, and possession of a large capacity ammunition feeding device. The charges stemmed from his involvement in the fatal shooting of 21-year-old Jordan Coates on Sept. 9, 2023 on the 1200 block of Duncan Place, NE. Coates died from two gunshot wounds to her torso.
All charges faced an aggravating factor of being committed while Brown was on release for another offense.
At the hearing, Brown accepted a plea deal from prosecutors that required him to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter while armed and robbery while armed in an unrelated case. Prosecutors agreed to dismiss the remaining and greater charges against Brown in both cases.
As part of the agreement, Brown will serve between 15-to-19 total years of imprisonment for both cases, subject to Judge Dayson’s approval at sentencing.
The prosecution said if the case had proceeded to trial, they would have proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Brown shot and killed Coates in front of a row house where he lived with his aunt. Coates was there to visit her ex-girlfriend, a relative of Brown’s, when Brown asked her to leave.
Brown shot Coates with a firearm with an extended magazine. She fell backwards over a short wall, landing in the mulch of an adjacent home. There was no legal justification and Brown acted knowingly, intentionally, and without mistake or accident, concluded prosecutors.
In the robbery case, prosecutors said they would have proven that on Sept. 8, 2022 on the 2700 block of Langston Place, SE, Brown and two other suspects forced the victim to the ground with a handgun and took her car keys, phone, and debit card. Then, the suspects demanded the victim withdraw money from her bank account at an ATM.
Judge Dayson determined there was a factual basis and that Brown knowingly and voluntarily accepted the deal.
Brown is scheduled for sentencing in both cases on June 26.
