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By
Aerial Lopez [former]
- April 27, 2023
Court
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Daily Stories
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Homicides
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Shooting
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Suspects
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Victims
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A homicide defendant pleaded guilty to one count of voluntary manslaughter while armed during a status hearing on April 27.
On Nov. 7, 2020, around 2:56 a.m., Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers responded to the sounds of gunshots reported on the 3300 block of Water Street, NW. There, they found 19 year-old Franklin Hernandez Arevalo suffering from a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead on the scene. Police arrested 20-year-old Roberto Cayetano-Mejia for second-degree murder while armed on April 20, 2021.
Rather than receiving the maximum sentence of 30 years of incarceration and 5 years of supervised release, the plea deal would reduce 22-year-old Cayetano-Mejia’s potential sentence to 12 years of incarceration with 5 years of supervised release.
This hearing was held a week after its intended date. On April 20, Cayetano-Mejia was subjected to mandatory quarantine and prohibited from entering the courthouse. His defense counsel, Rachel E McCoy and Kevin C Robertson, requested to push back the status hearing by one week. DC Superior Court Judge Anthony C Epstein granted their request.
Judge Epstein will decide whether to accept the prosecution’s sentencing suggestion before the defendant returns to court. He ordered Cayetano-Mejia to a commitment study under the Youth Rehabilitation Act (YRA). This commitment will put the defendant in the custody of the Attorney General until a suitable sentence is determined.
Cayetano-Mejia is scheduled to return to court on July 21 for a full report and sentencing hearing.