Judge Sentences Murderers, Continues Hearing to Review Youth Act

By D.C. Witness Staff - December 19, 2018
Court | Homicides | Policy | Suspects | Victims |

Even though two convicted murderers were sentenced Dec. 18, a DC Superior Court judge decided to continue the sentencing to determine if their sentences should fall under the Youth Rehabilitation Amendment Act of 2018.

Judge Judith Bartnoff sentenced Barry Giles and Marco Williams to 8.5 years and 15.5 years in prison, respectively for their involvement in the homicide of 37-year-old Timothy Lassiter on the 3100 block of Berry Rd., NE in 2016. The sentences were formed by an agreement between the prosecution and defense.

According to Judge Bartnoff, the only question is whether the sentences should be imposed under the act, which became effective in December.

The amended act changes the eligible age of youth offenders from 22 and younger to 24 and younger at the time of the offense. Giles, who was 20 years old at the time of the offense, and Williams, who was 23 yers old at the time of offense, are eligible to be considered under the amended law. However, if counsel and the judge decide that the sentences should fall under the statute, it will not change the defendants’ time in prison.

In October, Giles pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and carrying a pistol without a license outside a home or office. Williams pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter while armed.

“There’s nothing I can say that would fix this,” Judge Bartnoff told the family, several of whom travelled from North Carolina to attend the sentencing and other hearings in the case. “I don’t believe in the term closure, [but] this is a chapter that’s over.”

Although members of Lassiter’s family were not entirely happy with the sentencing agreement, the family accepted it as a form of justice.

“I don’t think any mother should be standing in this position,” Lassiter’s mother, who is a chief financial officer for a community health center in North Carolina, told the judge. “It’s been an awful thing. I just don’t want nobody to shoot nobody else.”

Family members spoke of their lost loved on as a man who put others needs above his own. In Fort Lincoln, the neighborhood where Lassiter lived, he was not only the local barbecue chef, but also went out of his way to do nice things for residents, especially children.

His daughter told D.C. Witness that he would often hold parties for kids as well as buy them clothes and supplies for school. “He treated kids in the neighborhood like his own,” she said.

However, even though those memories seem like good ones, they also remind her of her father’s death. Giles was one of the kids in the neighborhood that Lassiter helped. The daughter said Lassiter treated Giles like a son. She said the whole situation was “nerve-wrecking.”

According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of Columbia, following Lassiter’s funeral, Giles posted a social media video where he bragged about his role in the shooting.

In addition to impact statements from Lassiter’s mother, daughter, sister and brother-in-law, the prosecutor also read a letter from a loved one who did not want to be identified. “The oldest child blames herself because she left her dad in DC…the middle child lost faith in the world…and the youngest wants to be a doctor to save people so they won’t die like her daddy,” the letter said.

Neither Giles nor Williams said anything at the sentencing. The men have been held without bond since March. In addition to their prison terms, Giles and Williams are required to serve five additional years on supervised release and pay a $100 fine to the crime victim’s fund.