A homicide defendant, apparently in Georgia, failed to appear at a hearing before DC Superior Court Judge Jason Park on March 23.
Steven Washington, 26, is charged with conspiracy, first-degree felony murder while armed, two counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, carrying a pistol without a license outside of a home or business, and attempting to commit robbery while armed. These charges stem from his alleged involvement in the fatal shooting of Nurudeen Thomas, 30, on the 4100 block of 14th Street, NW on July 21, 2020.
Washington failed to appear at the hearing, and his defense attorneys, Quo Judkins and Veronice Holt, stated they have been unable to contact him. An officer from the Pretrial Services Agency (PSA) also stated that she had been attempting to contact Washington with no success.
Washington is currently released in Georgia with GPS monitoring. According to Holt and the PSA officer, his GPS device was totally discharged on March 16, and came back online around March 21.
The GPS device now indicates Washington was at his residence in Georgia. However, he failed to keep his contact information updated for PSA, which is part of his release conditions.
The prosecution requested that Washington’s release be terminated, which Judge Park denied because he lives in another state.
Holt requested a couple of days to attempt to contact Washington.
Judge Park stated that he planned to issue a bench warrant, but gave Holt and Judkins until Wednesday to speak to Washington.
Parties are scheduled to reconvene on March 25.
