Judge Says Homicide Probable Cause Was a ‘Close Call’

By Audrey Staudacher - March 5, 2024
Homicides | Juveniles | Shooting |

On March 4, the preliminary hearing of two co-defendants concluded in DC Superior Court Judge Okun’s courtroom.

Na’eem Butler, 20, a Pennsylvania State University student, and Ashton Inabinet, 16, are charged with second-degree murder while armed for their alleged involvement in the fatal shooting of 24-year-old Diamonte Lewis. The incident occurred on Oct. 21, 2023, on the 900 block of U Street, NW. 

Inabinet is charged as an adult under Title 16.

According to court documents, Butler and Inabinet were with a group of friends when they were confronted by Lewis and his friends. Allegedly, several arguments followed as the antagonists moved down U street as Lewis and a friend followed Butler and Inabinet’s group.

Surveillance footage then captured two individuals, identified as Butler and Inabinet, show firearms and shoot in Lewis’ direction as he falls to the ground. Lewis died at the scene. 

The preliminary hearing was a continuation of one that occurred on Feb. 29. 

Butler’s defense attorney, Kevann Gardner, began by challenging a detective’s credibility based on her testimony compared to surveillance footage of the incident. Gardner believed the detective had misrepresented the case.

“I think it’s a black-and-white issue that she was dishonest,” Gardner stated. “We must hold detectives to a higher standard.”

Judge Okun ruled the detective’s credibility shouldn’t be challenged in this case, despite the detective’s testimony being “sloppy.”

“No doubt parts of her testimony were inaccurate,” Judge Okun said, but concluded the detective had not knowingly made false statements.

The prosecution then asked the judge to find probable cause for Butler and Inabinet. The prosecutor argued that Butler and Inabinet were the only ones to have discharged firearms, and this escalated the altercation, even if Lewis and his friend had initiated it.

“Were they bullies? Yeah, they were,” the prosecutor said in reference to Lewis and his friend.

The prosecutor also stated that Butler and Inabinet had discharged their firearms into a crowded street.

“The fact that no one else was killed was a miracle,” said the prosecutor. “You can’t bring a gun to a fistfight.”

Further, the prosecutor stated that a witness allegedly heard Butler exclaim, “I caught a body!” after the shooting.

Gardner argued that Butler was acting in self-defense of himself and others. He claimed that Lewis and his friend were acting as the aggressors, and Butler consistently walked away. 

He also claimed that eyewitnesses saw Lewis and his friend “grabbing at their waistbands,” to indicate they possessed firearms.

“Butler never, ever pulled out a gun until he believed he was going to die,” Gardner argued. 

He claimed that Butler had turned away from the group when Inabinet allegedly fired the first shot. When Butler turned around, he saw Lewis’s friend holding a gun, and assumed he had been the one to fire. Fearing for his life, Butler returned fire. 

Surveillance footage then showed Lewis’ friend allegedly leaning over his body after he was shot, then quickly fleeing the scene. Gardner claimed that this showed a “clear opportunity” for the friend to remove a firearm from Lewis. He argued that if Lewis was in possession of a firearm, then Butler had been acting in self-defense because he felt threatened.

Inabinet’s defense attorney, Stuart Sears, also argued that Inabinet was acting in self defense of himself and others. 

He alleged that, during one confrontation before the shooting, Lewis and his friend attacked Inabinet, who ran away with his friends at first opportunity.

“They didn’t retaliate,” Sears claimed. “They took their beating, and they tried to go home.”

He agreed with Gardner that Lewis’s friend had an opportunity to take a firearm from him before police arrived. 

“He was not giving CPR, I know that,” Sears said.

The prosecution said a marked police car was visible on surveillance footage, so Butler and Inabinet could have approached officers if they felt threatened.

After brief deliberation, Judge Okun found probable cause for second-degree murder while armed, claiming it was a “close call.” 

“The evidence is sufficient, but just barely,” he stated in his ruling.

He cited that self-defense did not apply because there was not enough evidence that Lewis and his friend had possessed firearms.

The parties then made arguments for the release of Butler and Inabinet.

Ultimately Judge Okun ordered for the supervised release of both Butler and Inabinet with home confinement and GPS monitoring based on family support.

“Evidence in this case weighs heavily in favor of release,” Judge Okun said.

Parties are slated to reconvene on May 31.