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By
D.C. Witness Staff
- June 18, 2018
Court
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Homicides
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Suspects
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A man who pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter after killing a close friend in a traffic collision was sentenced to seven years in prison and five years of supervised release.
Tyre Donnell Bailey was in the passenger’s seat of Lawrence Dukes’ car at the time of the accident. According to court documents, traffic cameras caught Dukes running a red light and hitting a Metrobus. Along with killing Bailey, Dukes also injured four people. Dukes was driving erratically between 55 and 60 miles per hour in a 35 mile-per-hour zone. He ran a traffic light at the intersection of Stanton Road, SE and Suitland Parkway, SE in 2016.
When police arrived on the scene, Dukes, 28, and Bailey, 20, were unconscious according to court documents. Officers managed to remove Dukes from the car, but Bailey’s legs were pinned by the passenger’s side dashboard. Officers from the Metropolitan Police Department were unable to extricate him before flames consumed the vehicle. Bailey burned to death.
Dukes is currently undergoing rehabilitation to recover from the injuries he sustained in the crash.
“Mr. Dukes is just like a son to me,” one of Bailey’s family members said. “I’m here for Mr. Dukes. And I understand the government’s gonna do what it’s gonna do.”
According to Dukes’ defense attorney, Bailey’s family has come to every one of Dukes’ court hearings to show their support.
The defense also said that Dukes was enrolled in college classes and asked that he be allowed to complete them before being sent to prison. DC Superior Court Judge Zoe Bush declined the request.
“When you’re released from prison you’ll still be a young man,” Judge Bush told Dukes. “You’ll be living for two people now.”