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By
D.C. Witness Staff
- September 24, 2018
Court
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Daily Stories
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Homicides
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Suspects
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A District of Columbia Superior Court judge sentenced Sept. 21 a man, who pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, to nine years in prison with five years of supervised release.
Leon Stewart was convicted of murdering Darnell Lee Richardson, 29, on the 3400 block of Benning Road, NE in 2016.
Stewart, 26, was initially charged with first-degree murder while armed. Stewart accepted the plea deal in July.
According to court documents, Richardson met Stewart and an associate, who was not identified, in the parking lot of Benning Liquors. A witness said Stewart’s associate entered Richardson’s car, while Stewart waited outside.
Apparently, a fight broke out and the witness heard three gunshots come from inside the car. The associate exited the car, and Stewart fired five shots into the rear window of the vehicle as the decedent drove away from the scene.
The Metropolitan Police Department found Richardson in his vehicle on the median of a Northbound I-295 entry ramp, according to the documents.
According to the District of Columbia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Richardson sustained two gunshot wounds to the upper back, striking his heart and lung. He was pronounced dead on the scene.
“Mr. Stewart is a young man,” Judge Judith Bartnoff said. “I will say that I think that we make decisions we can’t undo and we wish we can. A nine-year sentence is appropriate and it means that we also don’t lose Mr. Stewart.”
Judge Bartnoff agreed to assign Stewart to a facility where he can participate in trade programs and finish his college education.
Stewart has been in jail since 2016 and will receive credit for time served.