Defendant Initially Charged with Murder Pleads Guilty to Non-Homicide Charges

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A man initially charged with murder in the aftermath of a Congress Heights shooting pleaded guilty to assault and gun charges.

On the afternoon of March 31, 2021, Metropolitan Police Department officers found several people suffering from gunshot wounds on the 1300 Block of Congress Street, SE. Two of them, 28-year-old Keosha Ferguson and 25-year-old George Evans III, succumbed to their injuries. Tarik Turner was initially charged with second-degree murder while armed in Furguson’s death. Turner, 28, said Ferguson shot him in the leg and he fired back in self-defense.

During a March 8 hearing, Turner accepted the prosecution’s offer to plead guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, and carrying a pistol without a license, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

DC Superior Court Judge Maribeth Raffinan accepted the plea deal. Turner’s attorney, Quo Judkins, asked Judge Raffinan to release her client into the High Intensity Supervision Program as he waits to be sentenced. She pointed out that he has no prior convictions. Still, Judge Raffinan denied the request, expressing that the guilty plea warrants him remaining at DC Jail.

Tuner is set to be sentenced on May 27.

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