Co-defendants in a homicide case rejected a plea offer before DC Superior Court Judge Jason Park on April 3.
Damari Brown, 24, and Antoin Whitehead, 24, are charged with conspiracy, first-degree premeditated murder while armed, attempted robbery while armed, and two counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. The charges stem from their alleged involvement in the fatal shooting of 35-year-old Henry Crutchfield on May 27, 2025 on the 1600 block of 14th Street, NW.
The prosecution extended a plea offer that would require Brown and Whitehead to plead guilty to second-degree murder while armed in exchange for the prosecution dismissing all other charges.
Whitehead’s attorney, Elizabeth Weller, and Brown’s attorney, Madalyn Harvey, rejected the plea deal on behalf of their clients and expressed that they wanted to proceed to a jury trial.
Afterwards, parties discussed a motion filed by the prosecution on Feb. 15 opposing Weller’s proposed witness for a witness at an upcoming detention hearing.
Weller made a request for Whitehead to call the lead detective on the case to testify at his detention hearing, which does not currently have a set date. The prosecution was opposed to this motion because the proffer submitted by Weller on the matter was too broad regarding the topics they wanted to question the detective about.
Judge Park agreed that the proffer was too vague, but said its areas of inquiry were legitimate and that the specifics of the questioning could be monitored by the judge during the hearing.
Parties are slated to reconvene on May 15.
