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By
Brigette Bagley
- February 13, 2025
Daily Stories
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Homicides
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Shooting
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A jury in DC Superior Court Judge Danya Dayson’s courtroom acquitted a homicide defendant of all charges stemming from an ongoing feud on Feb. 11.
Aaron Murchison, 28, was charged with second-degree murder while armed, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a convict, for his alleged involvement in the fatal shooting of Jamontate Brown, 32, on Oct. 16, 2022, on the 2500 block of Pomeroy Road, SE.
During the ten day trial, defense attorneys, Kevann Gardner and Bernadette Armand, argued there was no photo or video evidence placing Murchison at the crime scene described as “the cut.” They also claim there were no witnesses to connect him to Brown’s shooting.
The prosecution’s lead witness, a juvenile, testified seeing someone in “all black” around “the cut” behind a building. However, apartment security footage shown to the jury indicates Murchison was wearing a white tee shirt and dark jeans on the night of the incident.
The prosecution argued that Murchison was motivated to kill in response to ongoing “beef” between the Wellington Park and Stanton Oaks rival “crews,” loose associations often associated with criminal activity.
In opening statements prosecutors said that Murchison was in an apartment in Wellington Park on the night of the incident, when a group of men from The Oaks, including Brown, parked a car behind the complex, got out, walked to the front of the buildings, and began to fire their weapons.
According to court documents, Brown sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was found on a sidewalk lying on his back with his hands above his head. There was a handgun found on the victim.
Prosecutors say Brown came to Wellington Park to cause havoc by shooting into a lot where crew members parked their cars as part of an ongoing conflict. They argued that’s why Murchison “left the safety of the apartment” and was ready to shoot back when Brown opened fire into the neighborhood.
This “beef” and retaliatory behavior was corroborated by testimony from multiple Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers and detectives.
Following the acquittal, Judge Dayson ordered Murchison be released from jail.
No further dates were set.