Judge Denies Defendant’s Request to be Removed From HISP

By D.C. Witness Staff - June 30, 2020
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Suspects | Victims |

A DC Superior Court judge denied June 30 a defendant’s request to be taken off the High Intensity Supervision Program (HISP.)

Joshua Massaquoi pleaded guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon, conspiracy to commit a crime of violence, accessory to murder after the fact and carrying a pistol without a license.

Massaquoi is currently awaiting sentencing. He is in home confinement and only able to leave for specific tasks, such as exercising. He has a curfew and is being monitored by a GPS tracking device.

Massaquoi assisted Mason Binion in the murder of Michael Francis Taylor, a 21-year-old resident of Northeast DC who was killed June 22, 2008 on the 600 block of Farragut Street, NW.

According to court documents, the defendants picked up Taylor after he failed to acquire marijuana for which Binion paid him.

Massaquoi drove Binion and Victor Carvajal to pick Taylor up at a recreation center in Silver Spring, Md. He then drove everyone to an alley in the Brightwood Park neighborhood of DC, about five miles away.

Binion and Carvajal stepped out of the car with Taylor. Carvajal, whose subsequent first-degree murder while armed case was dismissed the day before opening statements, was alleged to have struck Taylor in the head with a rock. Binion shot him in the head with a pistol that belonged to Massaquoi.

After Taylor was shot, Massaquoi said he drove everyone back to Binion’s house and then hid the gun in the woods near his sister’s house.

Binion was convicted of first-degree murder and is awaiting sentencing.

According to court documents, Massaquoi approached the police with information about the murder in August 2015, seven years after it took place. He confessed to his role in the murder in the interviews that followed.

Massaquoi has been compliant with HISP since he started the program on March 24. He applied to schools and over 30 jobs during his time at home.

Judge Hiram Puig-Logo was sympathetic to his request, but said GPS tracking is the only type of monitoring available during the pandemic. Due to the virus, the Pretrial Services Agency is currently unable to do drug testing and face-to-face reporting. 

Massaquoi’s sentencing was rescheduled from July 7 to Oct. 1. If possible, a virtual sentencing will be held at an earlier date.