Homicide Defendant Pleads Guilty In Drug Shooting Dispute

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On April 2, DC Superior Court Judge Anthony Epstein heard from a defendant who pleaded guilty after accepting the prosecution’s offer to a fatal shooting and non-fatal stabbing.

Karlos Kinney, 24, was originally charged with second-degree murder while armed for shooting 25-year-old Resha Blount on April 30, 2020, at the 900 block of New Jersey Avenue, NW.

Kinney is also charged with assault with a dangerous weapon for stabbing another inmate in the DC Jail on Nov. 23, 2022. Kinney’s guilty plea is being extended to both cases.

Police said they found text messages on Blount’s phone that indicated a drug sale between the two on the night of the incident. According to court documents, Kinney allegedly shot Blount four times in her apartment after the two got into a dispute over drug prices.

“The defendant’s actions were voluntary and purposeful,” the prosecution said. “This was no mistake.”

Kinney accepted the plea deal presented to him by the prosecution, which he originally declined in 2021.

The deal required he plead guilty to a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter. This offered him reduced sentence of seven-and-half-to-15 years.

In the plea agreement, the prosecution said they would reduce his sentence for voluntary manslaughter from a maximum of 30 years to 10 years. However, they specified that Judge Epstein’s decision may be above or below the 10 year maximum. No limit was set on the sentence for Kinney’s assault with a dangerous weapon charge, which can go up to three years of incarceration.

Additionally, the prosecution said they would “dismiss the remaining and greater charges in both cases at the time of the sentencing.”

Judge Epstein said he believes “there is a factual basis for each plea.” He also said he would weigh the prosecution’s maximum sentences outlined by the plea deal, as well as the DC maximum sentences for both charges when making his decision.

Parties are slated to return on June 21 for Kinney’s sentencing.

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