Murder Defendant Pleads Guilty to Killing 14-year-old Boy

By D.C. Witness Staff - December 5, 2018
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Suspects |

Minutes after rejecting a plea deal, a murder defendant decided to accept the deal after speaking with his lawyer.

On Dec. 4, Anthony Deandre Allen pleaded guilty to second-degree murder while armed and attempt to commit robbery while armed for his role in the shooting death of 14-year-old Steven Slaughter on the 1700 block of Minnesota Avenue, SE in January. According to NBC, Slaughter was a 9th grader at Friendship Collegiate Academy in Northeast DC, where he played football.

A proffer of facts states that, on the night of the murder, Allen, 22, was driving a stolen car with two armed passengers. Apparently, the trio was looking for people to rob and saw Slaughter and his two friends walking on Minnesota Ave. The prosecution said the armed passengers got out of the car, attempted to rob Slaughter and ultimately shot him.

During the hearing, Allen initially told D.C. Superior Court Judge Craig Iscoe that he didn’t want to accept the plea. However, after learning that the next possible trial date was in 2020 he decided to take the plea.

Per the terms of the agreement, the prosecution downgraded Allen’s first-degree murder while armed charge to second-degree murder while armed and added a robbery charge. Contingent on the judge’s approval, Allen could be sentenced to between 12-24 years in prison for the murder charge and 1.5 to 5 years in prison for the robbery charge.

Allen is scheduled to be sentenced on April 26, 2019.