Judge Finds Defendant Competent to be Sentenced

By Mara Osterburg [former] - July 19, 2021
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

A DC Superior Court judge found a defendant charged in connection with a 2008 homicide competent to be sentenced. 

In 2015, Joshua Massaquoi was initially charged with first-degree murder while armed in connection with the shooting of 21-year-old Michael Francis Taylor on June 22, 2008, on the 600 block of Farragut Street, NW. The 33-year-old defendant ultimately pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder, accessory to second-degree murder and possessing a firearm during a crime of violence.

During the July 19 hearing, Judge Milton Lee said that Massaquoi’s most recent evaluation found him competent to be sentenced. Parties did not object.

The defendant was on home confinement waiting to be sentenced until March 2021, when a bench warrant was issued for his arrest and he was taken to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, DC’s psychiatric institution, where he is now being held D.C. Witness previously reported.

Defense attorney Matthew Davies asked Judge Lee to release Massaquoi from the hospital so he can participate in a life-skills program. The prosecution objected to this request, citing multiple threats Massaquoi allegedly made while on home confinement, including toward President Joe Biden and the Department of Defense.

Judge Lee denied this request, saying that Massaquoi’s mental health should improve more before he is released. The defendant will remain at St. Elizabeths as he awaits his next hearing, which is scheduled for July 22.

A jury found Mason Binion, 34, guilty of first-degree murder while armed in connection with Taylor’s death in February 2020. He is currently waiting to be sentenced. Victor Carvajal, 34, was also charged with first-degree murder while armed, but his case was later dismissed.