Judge Holds Six Of 18 Defendants During Initial Hearings

By D.C. Witness Staff - August 25, 2020
Featured | Homicides | Suspects |

On Aug. 25, DC Superior Court Judge Juliet McKenna released 12 defendants and held six defendants in DC Jail during their initial hearings.

Lawrence Gatewood is charged with assault with significant bodily injury and assault with a dangerous weapon for allegedly fracturing a victim’s skull with a baseball bat on the 1300 block of Good Hope Road, SE on Aug. 24. Judge McKenna held Gatewood due to the severity of the crime.

Joshua Smith is held on charges of simple assault and second-degree theft for allegedly stealing a cell phone from a taxi driver in front of Union Station on Aug. 25. Smith was also charged with simple assault on Aug. 22 and unlawful entry on private property on July 13. The judge held him due to the frequent and repeated nature of his offenses.

Judge McKenna held a domestic violence defendant charged with destruction of property less than $1,000 and a separate case in which he is charged with a bail violation. The defendant allegedly damaged a vehicle on Aug. 25 while on release for several pending cases involving similar assaultive and destructive conduct. 

Judge McKenna cited the defendant’s noncompliance with release conditions as well as the “allegations of substantial destruction of property” in his new case for her hold decision. 

Judge McKenna also held another domestic violence defendant who is charged with contempt for violating a stay-away order given to him by another judge in another domestic violence case.  

Olonzie Coney is held for violating his probation multiple times since his release. On July 30, Coney pleaded guilty to simple assault for acting aggressively with a knife on a DC metro train on March 1. Since his probation began, the defendant has failed to charge his GPS device or report to a probation officer.

Sylvia Gassaway is temporarily being held on fugitive charges for an arrest warrant in Maryland. Maryland authorities have three business days to retrieve Gassaway from DC Jail. If authorities fail to pick Gassaway up, she will have another hearing in DC to discuss her release. 

Gassaway is also charged with unlawful possession of liquid PCP and carrying a pistol without a license outside of her home or business for an incident which took place on Aug. 25. Judge McKenna released her on these charges with orders not to possess firearms once she is released in her fugitive case.

Of those released, two defendants were charged with domestic violence related offenses. Both defendants were given stay-away orders while one was also given a GPS ankle monitoring device.

Two defendants were released with fugitive charges. Both defendants are wanted in Maryland. One defendant is wanted for probation violation and shoplifting, and the other defendant is wanted for a family offense. The judge ordered them to turn themselves in to Maryland authorities immediately.

Five additional misdemeanor cases were presented. The charges included GPS tampering, contempt, simple assault, destruction of property, attempted threats to do bodily harm and attempted possession of a prohibited weapon. 

Judge McKenna released all five defendants and gave three of the defendants stay-away orders from the alleged victims.

Two defendants, charged with felonies for unlawful possession of liquid PCP and carrying a pistol without a license outside a home or business, were also released by Judge McKenna.

One defendant, charged with second-degree theft, has reportedly been in the hospital since July 20.

However, the defendant’s defense attorney said he spoke to the hospital where the defendant was being treated and discovered that the defendant is no longer under the care of the hospital.

The defendant, who is on probation in two cases, has two outstanding bench warrants for his arrest for failure to appear to his hearings. Judge McKenna issued a judicial summons and scheduled his arraignment in his new case for Oct. 15.

One final defendant, charged with assaulting a police officer, has been in the hospital since Aug. 12, so his hearing was rescheduled for Aug. 26.