Murder Defendant Unable to Appear Due to Positive COVID Test

By Rachel Benck [former] - February 3, 2023
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

Due to a positive Covid-19 test, a murder defendant was quarantined at the DC Jail and unable to appear in person or virtually for his status hearing in front of D.C. Superior Court Judge Robert Okun.

Ranje Reynolds, 25, is charged with first-degree murder while armed in connection with the shooting of 27-year-old Tarek Boothe that occurred on Jan. 31, 2022. According to a press release, Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers responded to a reported shooting on the 3200 block of M Street, NW. They found Boothe with a single gunshot wound to the head in his left eye. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Reynolds was unable to appear in court today due to a member of his cell block unit testing positive for Covid-19, causing the entire unit to be quarantined.

Reynolds’s defense attorney, Cheryl Stein, spoke with the prosecution and court clerk before Judge Okun entered the courtroom to find the closest date to reschedule the hearing.Three of Reynolds’s family members flew into D.C. for this hearing.

Judge Okun agreed to accommodate the defense’s request and reschedule the hearing for Feb. 10. All parties are to reconvene then. 

Reynolds’s in-person presence is not guaranteed, depending on if more members of his cell block test positive, consequently resetting the quarantine clock. However, this will give the court and the defense more time to arrange for his virtual appearance if necessary.