Approximately one year after a 20-year-old man was shot to death at a gas station in Shaw, the defendants charged with his death entered guilty pleas.
Shaquille Bynum and Sean Howard, both 19, were initially charged with first-degree murder while armed in the death of Ibrahim Sesay on Jan. 6, 2021. During a Feb. 9 hearing, the two pleaded down to charges of voluntary manslaughter while armed.
Sesay and his friends were at a gas station minimart on the 1300 block of 9th Street, NW when the co-defendants began walking towards the store with firearms. When Sesay and his friends attempted to flee, Howard opened fire on them. Sesay was struck by the gunfire and taken to a nearby hospital where he succumbed to his injuries, the prosecutor said during the hearing.
As part of the plea agreement, parties agreed to recommend a sentence of nine-and-a-half to 12 years for Howard and seven-and-a-half to 15 years for Bynum.
DC Superior Court Judge Maribeth Raffinan scheduled the two to be sentenced on June 10.
