DC Superior Court Judge Danya Dayson sentenced a fatal shooting defendant to 22 years and six months in prison on July 17.
Jamil Whitley, 38, was convicted by a jury on May 12 of second-degree murder while armed, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, carrying a pistol without a license outside a home or business, and unlawful possession of a firearm with a prior conviction, for his involvement in the fatal shooting of 32-year-old Kevin Redd on the 4700 block of Jay Street, NE, on June 11, 2020. Redd sustained gunshot wounds to his chest, shoulder, and forearm.
Before Judge Dayson delivered the sentence, Redd’s family spoke about the impact his death had on them and the community.
“I came up here to say, you don’t even know what losing your father could do to a boy,” Redd’s son said, “the night that my father died, I stayed up all night, my father never came home.”
The prosecution requested 35 years and four months of imprisonment, which is the maximum sentence within Whitley’s sentencing guidelines.
“Violent conduct of this magnitude deserves the strongest response our justice system can deliver,” said US Attorney Jeanine Pirro in a press release on July 17.
At the sentencing, the prosecution questioned the credibility of the pre-sentence report and letters of support submitted on Whitley’s behalf.
“We are not here because he might be something special to his family,” the prosecutor said, “you get punished for when you violate [the] things you are supposed to do.”
In addition, the prosecution highlighted Whitley’s criminal history. Whitley has both a felony and misdemeanor conviction, along with multiple release violations. The prosecutor alleged that Whitley has an arrest for almost every year of his adult life, apart from the time when he was incarcerated.
“Instead of learning from prior convictions… he only attempted to get smarter, get around the laws,” the prosecutor said.
In trial, the prosecution claimed that Whitley intentionally covered his face to avoid cameras during the incident. They also presented evidence that Whitley followed the investigation online and searched the internet about how to fix a hole in a car.
Whitely’s attorneys, Madalyn Harvey and James Brockway, requested a 13-year prison sentence.
“Its rare that I have a case where the [prosecution] is so clearly bothered by a sentencing report,” Harvey said.
Harvey contributed this rarity to Whitley being a “likeable client.” She emphasized that the qualities pointed out by the pre-sentence reporter are corroborated in the letters of support for Whitley.
The defense said that Whitley’s criminal history is not violent and the arrests referenced by the prosecution never amounted to trials. They also denied that Whitley attempted to cover up the incident.
“I understand the jury convicted Mr. Whitley, we maintain his innocence,” Harvey said.
Whitley did not make a statement, stating that his counsel advised him not to.
“This is a quite serious crime and I think that it is deserving of a quite lengthy sentence,” Judge Dayson said.
The judge sentenced Whitley to a total of 22 years and six months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release. Whitley will serve 17-and-a-half years for murder, five years for possession during a crime of violence, one-and-a-half years for carrying a pistol, and one-and-a-half-years for unlawful possession. The possession offenses will run concurrent with each other and consecutive to the murder charge.
Immediately after the sentencing, US Marshals arrested Redd’s son for his alleged involvement in an armed robbery.
No further dates were set for Whitley.
