DC Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman sentenced a murder defendant who confessed to the victim’s family on social media to 12 years of imprisonment on Dec. 19.
Shaun Brown, 25, pleaded guilty on Oct. 10 to voluntary manslaughter while armed and assault with a dangerous weapon for the fatal shooting of 47-year-old Dametrics Evans on Oct. 25, 2021 on the 4900 block of G Street, SE. Evans suffered from a gunshot wound to her back and an additional victim sustained a cervical spine injury.
The case was dismissed by prosecutors in June 2022, but reopened in January 2025 after Brown confessed to the murder during an Instagram live video.
As part of the plea deal, parties agreed to a sentence range of ten-to-12-and-a-half years of imprisonment.
At sentencing, Evans’ oldest daughter said at first she had sympathy for Brown but “he actually got away with it and really just wanted everyone to know.” The daughter said “you don’t take people you didn’t put here, you’re not God.”
Another one of Evans’ daughters said her mother meant everything to her and that she “will never again feel her arms around” her.
Evans’ oldest sister thanked everyone involved in the case for bringing the family closure so they “can feel somewhat whole again.”
A granddaughter of Evans told Brown “I hope you have time to think about it, because what you did was very wrong and you took somebody very special to us.”
“Grandma was the one thing that kept us happy, that made us feel safe…we could go to her whenever we needed her,” said the granddaughter.
Evans’ nephew, present on Webex, said Brown “shooting at an older female was completely unnecessary and doesn’t feel very masculine.”
After Evans’ family spoke, the prosecutor acknowledged “I don’t think I can say words more powerful than what the family has said.”
“The case was dismissed, the defendant had an opportunity to get away with it,” said the prosecutor. According to the prosecutor, Evans’ family provided the Instagram live video evidence for prosecutors to reopen the case.
The prosecutor played the video at sentencing, in which one of Evans’ daughters commented “You kill my mom and send a request.” Brown responded in the video “They closed the case though, you feel me, they couldn’t find no evidence.” Brown added “F*ck you, f*ck your mother. I don’t care no more.”
The prosecutor requested Brown serve ten-and-a-half years of imprisonment for manslaughter and two consecutive years for assault, followed by supervised release. They described Brown’s actions and comments as “reprehensible.”
Brown’s attorney, Michael Bruckheim, said “I wish I could offer words of comfort to the family,” but acknowledged they might not be receptive as Brown’s counsel.
“That was horrible,” said Bruckheim regarding the video confession. At the time of the confession, Bruckheim said although there was not a pending case against Brown, he was aware of his actions and carried them with him. After the case was reopened against Brown he admitted to his actions, said Bruckheim.
Bruckheim showed Judge Edelman Brown’s certificates of completion from a variety of classes during his incarceration. “Brown wants to be an example of how not to be and what not to do” when he returns to the community, said Bruckheim.
“He’s deeply remorseful of the actions he took, the words that he said, and the things that he did,” said Bruckheim.
Bruckheim read a letter in which Brown took responsibility for his actions and apologized. Brown said he hoped the knowledge gained from his classes would improve his decision making.
Bruckheim requested a total sentence of ten years of imprisonment for Brown. In addition, Bruckheim asked Judge Edelman to grant Brown the Youth Rehabilitation Act (YRA), which allows people under 25 who are convicted of certain crimes to have their convictions sealed or cleared after they successfully complete their sentence and potentially offers sentencing flexibility for the defendant.
Judge Edelman noted Brown was 21 at the time of the murder and said his conduct during and after the incident showed his immaturity. The judge granted Brown the YRA as a future benefit and incentive for Brown to successfully serve his sentence, but noted he did not lower Brown’s sentence with the YRA.
“I don’t know if there are enough adjectives to describe the conduct here and its effects…dangerous, reckless, violent, disastrous,” said Judge Edelman. Brown was “as insensitive as possible” in the video confession, expressed the judge.
Judge Edelman noted Brown showed prospects for rehabilitation and had no disciplinary infractions during his incarceration which was rare at the DC Jail.
The judge sentenced Brown to ten years for manslaughter and two consecutive years for assault, followed by five years of supervised release. Brown will be required to register as a gun offender in DC upon his release.
No further dates were set.
