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By
Jeff Levine
- December 11, 2024
Carjacking
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Daily Stories
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Suspects
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The issue before DC Superior Court Judge Erik Christian in a Dec. 10 sentencing hearing was how to balance appropriate punishment for a carjacking against the defendant’s lifelong mental health problems.
“This case shows how the system deals with mental health issues,” said Jay Mykytiuk, attorney for Kevin Weaver, 32.
According to court documents, Weaver confronted a ride share driver at the intersection of 7th Street and Monroe Street, NE on Sept. 10, 2023. When he attempted to drive away, Weaver allegedly told him, “Drive where I tell you to drive or I will shoot you.”
Ultimately, according to the police report, the driver stopped his van and fled fearing for his life. Responding officers tracked Weaver who absconded in the vehicle and arrested him on the 1200 block of Perry Street, NE.
He was initially charged with unarmed carjacking and pleaded guilty in October.
Referring to a stack of documents on the defense counsel’s table, Mykytiuk said the reports were “just a small sample,” of Weaver’s troubled mental health history and its tragic consequences.
Among other things, Mykytiuk’s said, Weaver has been diagnosed with schizo-affective disorder meaning that in addition to experiencing delusions he has dramatic mood swings. Further, Weaver’s cognitive scores are “in the extreme low range.”
In this case the defense mental health expert agreed with the diagnosis provided to the court by the DC Department of Behavioral Health (DBH).
“He doesn’t come here as a normal defendant,” says Mykytiuk. He said Weaver never intended violence in that he didn’t have a weapon, but rather that, “He was in crisis.”
Judge Christian said, putting himself in the victim’s position, “I would be scared to death.”
The prosecutor played surveillance video of the incident presenting multiple angles as the carjacking unfolded with the ride share driver clearly in distress. Given the seriousness, he recommended a sentence of 72 months.
When given the opportunity, Weaver apologized briefly for what he did.
However, the most dramatic summary of Weaver’s mental challenges came from his mother who addressed the court.
“I’ve just been trying to get assistance for my son’s mental illness,” she said “since he was three-years-old.” Among his problems, she said, are PTSD, learning disability, processing disorder and he was born with just one eye.
As for the times when Weaver doesn’t take his meds, “I say, Jesus got you baby. That’s what I tell him.”
In response, Judge Christian said, “This case cries out as a recommendation for treatment.” But the best option, Mykyutiuk said, is to get Weaver stabilized, there is “no magic bullet.”
Judge Christian imposed a 48 month sentence for kidnapping and a 24 month sentence for threat to kidnap or injure a person. The terms of supervised release are five years for kidnapping and three years for making the threat.
Weaver will be held at the Devens Federal Medical Center in Ayer, Massachusetts.
As Weaver left the courtroom, Judge Christian said, “Don’t do that again!”