Judge Denies Release Request for Murder Defendant Awaiting Indictment

By D.C. Witness Staff - February 10, 2022
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

A defense attorney asked a DC Superior Court judge to release the defendant charged with Eddie christ’s death, who has yet to be indicted more than one year after his arrest. 

When parties in this case met in court most recently on Feb. 9, defense attorney Gemma Stevens pointed out that it has been 505 days since Nathaniel Bates was initially charged with first-degree murder while armed in the death of 28-year-old Crist. Bates, 37, is accused of shooting Crist on the morning of May 8, 2020, on the  4000 block of South Capitol Terrace, SW. The defendant was arrested the following September and has remained detained at DC Jail ever since.

Judge Robert Okun denied the release request, noting that the defendant was on pretrial release for another case at the time the homicide happened. 

Court documents reveal that Bates was wearing a GPS monitoring device as a condition of his pretrial release. Metropolitan Police Department detectives obtained records of his whereabouts on the day of the homicide from the Pretrial Services Agency as part of their investigation into Crist’s death.

Although he denied the release request, Judge Okun did agree to check on the status of the indictment when parties meet in court again on March 3. He also scheduled a jury trial to begin in February of next year.