Judge Denies Releasing Murder Defendant

By D.C. Witness Staff - April 5, 2019
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Suspects | Victims |

On April 5, a judge denied releasing a murder defendant on bail.

Alonzo Brown, Stephon Evans and Carlos Turner are charged with first-degree murder while armed for their alleged roles in the shooting death of 22-year-old Michael Taylor at an apartment complex on the 1700 block of Benning Road, NE on Jan. 12. According to court documents, two other people also sustained non-life threatening injuries. It is not clear if Taylor was the intended target. 

DC Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman denied bail, saying Evans was a danger to society. The judge based his decision on ammunition and firearm parts that police found in Evans, 18, home and a police interview where Evans identified himself, Turner and Brown on surveillance footage captured shortly before the murder.

However, defense attorney, Joseph Caleb, said the only evidence connecting Evans to the crime is an identification by a police officer, which Caleb called “unreliable.” Caleb said the officer had not patrolled the neighborhood for almost a year before identifying Evans as a suspect in Taylor’s murder.

According to court documents, surveillance footage shows four armed men walking near the complex on Benning Road. Apparently, Brown and Evans were part of a gang, and family members told police that the shooting was in retaliation for the death of Shamar Marbury, another member of the gang, which occurred earlier in January. 

Evans, Brown, 22, and Turner, 20, are scheduled for another felony status conference on July 2.