Man Gets 37 Years for Fatally Shooting Bystander

By D.C. Witness Staff - December 14, 2018
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Suspects |

A man convicted for killing an innocent bystander was sentenced to 37 years in prison.

Kelby Gordon was convicted in July of second-degree murder while armed, assault with intent to kill while armed, and other related firearms offenses for shooting Gabriel Carlos Turner on the 2600 block of Birney Pl., SE in 2016. Turner was a janitor at the FBI building.

During the sentencing on Dec. 13, DC Superior Court Judge Milton Lee said Gordon, 32, made a series of bad decisions. Decisions that affected not only him, but also Turner, 46; Turner’s family and the defendant’s family, especially his children.

This is the “most senseless and foolish behavior,” Judge Lee said.

Turner’s family did not attend the sentencing.

The prosecutor said Gordon did not show any remorse for killing Turner, noting that the defendant was lucky that only one person was killed during the shooting. As reported by D.C. Witness, Gordon apparently tried to rob an individual who he saw holding  a lot of cash. However, when Gordon went to rob the person, who was armed, the two began running a shooting at each other.

Turner, who had intellectual disabilities, was caught in the middle. He was in the area because he visited his mother, daily. “He didn’t see it coming” the prosecutor said during the trial. “One shot, that was all it took and he immediately fell to the ground.”

Gordon, whose parents sat in the courtroom, maintained his innocence, saying he felt the trial wasn’t fair. However, Judge Lee said that he had no doubt about the jury’s verdict.

In addition to serving time in prison, Gordon is required to serve five years on supervised release. He is also required to pay $270 in restitution to a neighbor whose home was destroyed by the bullets and $600 to the Crime Victims Compensation Fund.

Read about the case on D.C. Witness.