On Dec. 5, a homicide defendant accepted a plea offer extended by prosecutors in front of DC Superior Court Judge Michael O’Keefe.
Jordan C. Jones, 23, was originally charged with first-degree premeditated murder while armed, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a prior convict, for his involvement in the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Noel Nicol. The incident occurred on Oct. 11, 2021, on the 2000 block of Savannah Place, SE. Nicol’s body was found on Oct. 14, 2021 inside a vehicle.
During the hearing, Todd Baldwin, Jones’ defense attorney, alerted the court Jones was accepting a plea offer extended by prosecutors, which requires he plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter while armed in exchange for a dismissal of all other charges.
According to Baldwin, the prosecutors agreed to limit their sentencing request within a range of 10-to-13 years imprisonment.
According to the prosecutor’s proffer of fact, which was read in open court and agreed to by the defendant, had the case gone to trial, they would have proved beyond a reasonable doubt that on the day of the incident, Jones, while armed, killed Nicol by shooting him.
On Oct. 14, 2021, officers responded to the report of an unconscious individual in a vehicle, where they located Nicol. An autopsy report and the decomposition of the body showed that the shooting had occurred days earlier, on Oct. 11.
The prosecutors claimed Jones acted in conscious disregard of Nicol’s life.
A sentencing was scheduled for March 15, 2024.
