Judge Holds Murder Defendant

By D.C. Witness Staff - October 5, 2020
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

A DC Superior Court judge decided to hold a defendant charged with the murder of an 11 year-old boy. 

Marcel Gordon and his three co-defendants are charged with second-degree murder while armed in the death of Davon McNeal. McNeal was fatally shot on July 4 on the 1400 block of Cedar Street, SE.

The Oct. 5 bond review hearing was scheduled to determine if Gordon, 25, could be put on pretrial release. Gordon was screened and deemed eligible for the High Intensity Supervision Program (HISP) by the Pretrial Services Agency (PSA.) 

The prosecution argued that Gordon should be held, citing a prior weapon possession charge from 2016. The charge in that case was dropped, but the prosecution argued it demonstrates that Gordon is a danger to the community.

“I looked at the docket in court view for the 2016 case and the defendant was in possession of a loaded semi-automatic pistol outside Cedar Street which is the same block as this incident,” said Judge Neal Kravitz. “It’s highly relevant that, less than four years earlier, on the same block, the defendant is out in the community with a loaded pistol.”

Gordon’s attorney, Howard McEachern, said his client was not convicted for that charge and it was only a possessory offense. Gordon has a place to stay in Greenbelt, Maryland. 

Judge Kravitz ultimately ruled that no release conditions would ensure the community’s safety. 

Gordon was the last of the four co-defendants to be taken into custody. He turned himself in to authorities on Aug. 31.

The other three, Carlo General, Christen Wingfield and Daryle Bond, are being held because of pending cases or past convictions of firearms charges, which Judge Kravitz argued would make them a danger to the community. 

The co-defendants’ next hearing, a felony status conference, is scheduled for Jan. 8.