Murder Defendant Pleads Guilty to Killing his Friend

By Isabelle Chiu [former] - July 28, 2022
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Suspects | Victims |

During a hearing on July 27, a homicide defendant pleaded guilty to one count of negligent homicide. 

Terry Hunter, 68, was charged in connection to the death of his friend, 69-year-old Randolph Peoples, on March 6 along 19th Street and L Street, NE. 

According to court documents, Hunter told detectives he and Peoples had been drinking and smoking together when they got into a physical argument while they were sitting in Hunter’s vehicle. Hunter drove off with Peoples in the passenger seat and heard yelling to stop. After continuing to drive a couple of blocks, Hunter saw Peoples’ head in the passenger door with the seat belt around his neck.

Hunter immediately stopped the vehicle and performed CPR on Peoples. Emergency services began medical treatment upon arrival but ultimately pronounced Peoples dead later that night. 

On July 6, the prosecutor offered Hunter a plea deal agreeing to stop seeking an indictment on involuntary manslaughter should the defendant plead guilty to negligent homicide, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Before DC Superior Court Judge Maribeth Raffinan accepted Hunter’s guilty plea, she heard a statement by Peoples’ daughter. 

“I had pleaded with my father to stay away from this man for years because he was not a good influence on my father,” she told Judge Raffinan, explaining how Hunter and Peoples had known each other since childhood. 

According to Peoples’ daughter, Hunter would repeatedly take advantage of Peoples’ financial generosity to buy drugs. She said the defendant was mad at her father the day of his death for refusing to go to the ATM to withdraw money to buy more drugs. 

“My father was dragged on the floor like a dog over three blocks by someone he called a friend,” she said. 

Defense attorney Elizabeth Weller objected to the daughter’s statement, arguing it was more appropriate for a sentencing rather than a plea. 

Judge Raffinan agreed and told the parties she would take Peoples’ daughter’s statement into consideration at the sentencing, which is scheduled for Oct. 14.