Jeremiah Jordan has been charged with the death of 30-year-old Antoine McCullough.
McCullough died shortly after he was found with apparent gunshot wounds in the 3500 block of 18th St., SE, in July. Police on Thursday arrested Jordan, charging him with first-degree murder while armed.
Jordan was presented in D.C. Superior Court and is being held without bail. He is due back in court on Sept. 1.
Two men were shot, one fatally, Wednesday night.
Police are investigating after they found Derryk Johnson, 19, and another male suffering from gunshot wounds in the 600 block of N St., NW, a little after 10 p.m.
Both men were taken to the hospital, but Johnson died from his injuries.
Police have not yet made any arrests.
A 20-year-old man was fatally shot early Wednesday morning.
Police are investigating after they found Robert Lee Vinson shot in the 1600 block of V Street, SE, at around 2:45 a.m. Vinson was taken to the hospital where he died from his injuries.
Police are still searching for suspects.
A man was fatally stabbed inside a residence early Tuesday morning in what police are calling a domestic incident.
Edy Dinora Portillo Martinez was arrested and charged with second-degree murder while armed for the alleged fatal stabbing of Pedro Sixto Esparragoza on Tuesday.
Esparragoza, 32, was taken to the hospital Tuesday where he died from injuries related to a stabbing, police said. Martinez, 28, was presented in D.C. Superior Court Wednesday and is being held without bail. She is next due in court on August 23.
Murder suspect Leon Stewart’s request to transfer to a different wing of D.C. jail due to the excessive heat was denied Thursday.
Stewart, 24, was charged with first-degree murder while armed for allegedly killing Darnell Lee Richardson, 29, in March.
Lee’s request was the fourth time last week a D.C. murder suspect has asked to be moved to a different cell due to excessive heat and rising temperatures.
Stewart’s attorney, Monica Douglas said the heat was causing “migraines and headaches.” Superior Court Judge Lynn Leibovitz said the information in the medical records does not support the migraines, she also pointed out the temperature in Stewart’s cell has dropped several degrees from July’s average high of 83.63 degree.
“I know there’s speculation about physical and psychiatric health effects from the heat,” Leibovitz said, stressing that speculation should be treated as such.
Douglas rebutted Leibovitz’s argument, saying that Stewart, 24, is on medication and the heat has a very real effect on his health
“I don’t think it’s speculation. People on these meds are at higher risk of heat-related illness,” she said. Douglas also pointed out the temperature monitored by the jail’s thermometer system doesn’t account for the humidity. She continued to press for Stewart’s transfer to the Jail’s CTF wing.
Leibovitz said Stewart “happens to be in a unit where temperature has been reduced successfully” adding “there are many more prisoners with serious issues that warrant transfer. Moving to a cell that is one degree cooler won’t change anything.”
A preliminary hearing is set for Sept. 2. Stewart has been held since his arrest on May 18.
Rashad Allen’s trial, set to start on September 6, will be a lengthy one.
Allen was seen in court on Thursday for a trial-readiness hearing. Judge Robert Morin asked if both parties will be prepared to begin trial on September 6 and both nodded. The prosecution warned Judge Morin that they will be looking at a lengthy trial, with approximately eighteen witness accounts alone on behalf of the government.
Of these eighteen witnesses, four are experts on DNA, firearms, and cell phone retrieval. Three witnesses, the prosecution said, will be rather lengthy civilian accounts. They estimate their evidence will take 3-4 days to present at trial, not including cross-examinations.
Allen will have another status hearing on September 2 before his trial begins.
Allen was arrested in April of 2015 for the second-degree murder of David Simmons. The shooting took place on March 15 in Southeast D.C. Officers responded to a report in the 2300 block of Hartford Street. Both Simmons and another man were found suffering from gunshot wounds and were rushed to a nearby hospital. Allen was found responsible for the double shooting.
Yet again on Thursday, murder suspect Donald Hairston requested a transfer out of D.C.’s jail due to medical problems worsened by the high temperatures inside his cell.
Hairston, 49, is charged with first-degree murder in the June shooting death of 40-year-old Stephanie Goodloe. Hairston’s attorney, Mani Golzari, argued his client needs to be moved out of D.C. jails cell block because Hairston is easily dehydrated due to medication he takes to treat hypertension, and suffers from nerve damage, making it difficult for him to walk and cool off.
Golzari said the Department of Corrections tested the temperature in Hairston’s cell earlier that week in the early afternoon and the cell was 82 degrees. Glozari said the jail is not releasing information related to the heat index of the jail and individual cells, information Glozari argued is necessary for his experts to fully assess Hairston’s health.
Over the last week cell blocks in D.C. jail have been tested to be in the upper 70’s low 80’s and the individual cells are five to six degrees warmer on average as reported by NBC 4.
Hairston’s attorney asked if he could be given more medical attention or moved to a different part of the jail if a transfer was denied. Golzari said Hairston is treated daily for hypertension and cholesterol, but a key part of his medical history has been ignored by the DOC.
Due to nerve damage in his lower back, Hairston has difficulty walking and sometimes his legs will go numb for an extended period of time. One of Hairston’s legs is also swelled, causing him to enter court walking with a cane and without one shoe.
The DOC has allowed inmates more time out of their cell’s to cool down, but Hairston has so much difficulty moving, sometimes he can’t get out of bed and not being able to take part in the cool down activities, his attorney told the court. Golzari said part of the problem is the medication Hairston takes for his nerve damage has either not been provided since his time in DOC or has been given inconsistently.
Judge Florence Pan said she had no record of Hairston’s nerve damage because it was not on the medical forms provided to her by the DOC. When Pan asked Glozari what he feels she should do, he requested she write to DOC and request action to be taken.
The prosecution argued Pan should not interfere in the workings of the DOC because it would not be appropriate. Pan agreed, but said she will act for Hairston because his case is more specific and she felt something needed to be done.
Hairston is due in court again on Sept. 2 for a felony status conference.
Anaiona Gaston’s boyfriend shot her once in the forehead while she held their two-month-old daughter in her lap, in what he described to police as an accident.
Gaston, 19, was found sitting cross legged on top of a bed, dead from a single gunshot wound to the head inside Fields’ apartment early Saturday morning.
Fields, charged with second-degree murder, told homicide detectives he had returned to the apartment from a club and safely unloaded his gun. Gatson was already inside the apartment with their daughter, as she had been let in by Fields’ grandparent earlier that night.
Fields told police he had Gaston “began to have a deep conversation about their relationship,” when Gatson began playing around, making “pop pop” noises and using her fingers to make shooting motions “in a joking matter.” According to the affidavit for his arrest, Fields told police he pointed his gun at Gatson and said “pop pop” and the gun went off. Fields told police he tried to wake up Gatson, who had been holding their daughter in her lap, but she did not respond. He then fled, tucking the gun in his waistband, which he was found with later when police found him by the apartment.
Police included an interview with Fields’ grandparent in the charging documents, who had let Gatson into their apartment at 2300 Good Hope Road, SE, and called police after she was shot. This witness told police that after they heard the shooting, they saw Gatson lying in the bed and Fields left the apartment. They gave police a description of Fields who was apprehended and later charged with second-degree murder while armed.
Fields was presented in D.C. Superior Court Saturday and is being held without bail. He is due to appear in court for a preliminary hearing Aug. 15.
[documentcloud url=”http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3002210-Malik-Fields-charging-docs.html” width=600 height=800]
After more than two weeks without a homicide, the city experienced three fatal shootings within hours early Saturday morning.
Anaiona Gaston, 19, was found fatally shot in the head inside an apartment in the 2300 block of Good Hope Road, SE. Gaston was found at around 3:51 a.m. Saturday morning. Police charged her boyfriend, 21-year-old Malik Fields, with second-degree murder. Fields was presented in D.C. Superior Court on Saturday and is being held without bail.
Just minutes before police discovered Gaston’s body, they responded to a report of gunshots in the 3500 block of 14th Street, NW. There they found 29-year-old Edward Roberts, Jr. suffering after he was shot multiple times. Roberts, found at around 3:30 a.m. was taken to the hospital where he died. Police have not arrested any suspects.
Police are also investigating a shooting on the I-295 overpass that left one man dead and another injured. At around 2:30 a.m. Saturday morning police discovered two men inside a vehicle who had been shot. Both men were taken to the hospital, but on Sunday 25-year-old Judonne Stephens died from his injuries. Police have not arrested any suspects.
Tensions ran high Tuesday morning as the defense and prosecution argued over the handing over of evidence in the trial of 21-year-old Dujuan Garris.
Garris is charged with first-degree murder while armed in the January 2015 shooting death of James Anderson, 27.
Garris was originally set to go on trial on July 6, but the defense postponed, saying there was male DNA found on bullet casings found at the crime scene that did not match Garris or Anderson. The defense requested time to send the data off to their experts for analysis.
The trial was then set to being in January, 2017, but on Tuesday it was pushed back to March.
The prosecution said they believe the unknown male DNA belonged to crime scene detectives and firearm specialists who handled the evidence without gloves. They said they would need time after the defense got their results back to conduct DNA testing on all of the people who could have come in contact with the evidence with the hopes of proving that there is not a second, unknown suspect.
This evidence analysis, along with the analysis of blood found on a different piece of evidence, was supposed to be shared with the prosecution by the defense before Tuesday’s status hearing. It was not.
At this time, the defense said that they were unsure if they would even use the evidence they are collecting from the analysis.
The prosecution said that the defense has had over a month since they originally said that their analysis would be available, and argued there is no reason for the delay unless the defense was attempting to waste time. The prosecution also noted that the delay gave time for the protective order preventing Garris from learning about possible testifying witnesses was allowed to expire.
After several minuets of back and forth the defense approached the bench to explain the situation to Judge Milton Lee.
Lee addressed the prosecution and said, “Maybe this is not as clear cut as you thought it was.” Lee said that he was satisfied with the reasoning the defense gave at the bench for the delay and he would take action if the defense did not comply after the analysis was finished.
“I know more than you do,” Lee told the prosecution.
The trial date was scheduled for March 6, 2016. A status hearing will be held on Sept. 16 at 10 a.m.
Tavon Moore, 26, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to voluntary manslaughter and assault with a dangerous weapon.
Moore is responsible for the murder of Noel Rezene which took place earlier this year on March 4. He was originally charged with second-degree murder while armed and assault with intent to kill while armed. Upon his pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter and assault with a dangerous weapon, these original charges will be dropped.
Moore’s sentence will be 15 years in prison.
“No more and no less,” said Judge Lynn Leibovitz.
After these 15 years, he will have five years of supervised release for the charge of voluntary manslaughter, and three years for the assault with a dangerous weapon charge. Both of these will be served concurrently.
The prosecution, reading their proof to charge Moore, read aloud details of Rezene’s murder. On the day of the murder, Moore’s son’s mother and her friend, Noel Rezene, visited Moore’s apartment. Rezene entered the apartment and immediately became engaged in a verbal argument with Moore. Moore began walking away from Rezene when Rezene pulled out a handgun and started shooting at Moore. Rezene then fled back to the parked vehicle he had arrived in. Unharmed, Moore followed him outside with another handgun and repeatedly shot at Rezene sitting in the driver seat, and his son’s mother, sitting in the passenger seat.
After driving to the hospital with multiple gunshot wounds each, Rezene succumbed to his injuries. The other victim survived.
Moore’s defense attorney Katerina Semyonova said her client was acting in self-defense. However, the judge disagreed.
Moore’s sentence will be officially decided by a judge on Sept. 23.
Kevin Chase‘s attorney, Katerina Semyonova, requested her client be moved from the D.C. local jail because of the heat.
“He has, under the Fifth Amendment, the right to be held without cruel and unusual punishment,” Semyonova argued in court Tuesday.
The jail unit temperature, recorded Tuesday, was eighty degrees. This is a decrease in temperature from the complaints last Friday, Judge Florence Pan said. That being said, Semyonova argued that the “jail unit” temperature is very different from the “jail cell” temperature. The jail cells are recorded to be anywhere close to 6 or 7 degrees hotter than the jail unit, but the Department of Corrections has refused to take heat readings from inside of them, she said.
The defense requested Chase be transfered to another facility and if that is denied, that specialists be granted access inside of his jail cell to take heat index readings. Semyonova was frustrated that she and her team had not been allowed access inside of the cell to test this information regarding her client’s discomfort. She argued that these spiked temperatures are inhibiting Chase from sleeping or being able to concentrate when making important decisions regarding his trial.
Semyonova argued her client is guaranteed to be held without cruel and unusual punishment under the eighth amendment*, and “this falls far short of that.”
Pan denied the defense’s request for his relocation, based on a medical examination of Chase which said he was ok, and the heat wave was not dangerous to his health. She also denied their request to have a third-party specialist come examine the heat index of Chase’s cell.
Pan argued that by her moving Chase, she may take away the opportunity for the transfer of an inmate that has detrimental health risks in the heat. It has come to her attention that all of the inmates are in extreme discomfort, however, she cannot allow all of them to move, especially the healthy ones, she said.
Chase will join many others suffering from this heat and return to his jail cell that, as of Tuesday, ranges anywhere between eighty and eighty-seven degrees. He will be seen next in court for a status hearing September 23.
*Correction: this article incorrectly said the heat was a violation of a person’s fifth amendment right. It is the eighth amendment that prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.
Donta McNeil, 29, pleaded not guilty to four charges including second-degree murder Tuesday morning. He is being held without bail, but may be transferred to another facility or a halfway house because the jail is too hot.
McNeil is charged with second-degree murder while armed for allegedly fatally shooting Antonio Dean, 24, on Aug. 22, 2015. He is also charged with possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, assault, and one count of obstruction of justice.
McNeil’s attorney, David Maxted, requested that the court set a trial date as soon as possible. While D.C. Superior Court Judge Jose Lopez managed to set a motions hearing for Sep. 26, and a response hearing for Nov. 26, McNeil’s trial is tentatively scheduled for Aug. 21, 2017. A felony status conference has been scheduled for Oct. 13.
Maxted and the Assistant U.S. Attorney, Paul Eckert, said they believe the trial will take three to four days at the longest to complete. Eckert could not guess how many witnesses he would present at the trial.
Maxted also requested to transfer his client out of D.C. jail because the living conditions in DC jail are “intolerable” due to the heat. The temperature “gets as hot as 100 degrees” and “feels even hotter due to the humidity and the particular location he’s being held in,” Maxted said. Lopez said he would recommend McNeil’s transfer. Yesterday, another murder suspect requested a transfer out of the D.C. jail because of the same issue.
On Saturday, Aug. 22, 2015, the Metropolitan Police Department responded to a report of shooting at 1324 Stevens Road, SE. Officers found Antonio Dean suffering from gunshot wounds to the head and body. He showed no signs of life and was taken to the office of the Chief Medical Examiner for the District of Columbia, who ruled his death a homicide.
MPD officers found multiple .45 caliber shell casings as well as multiple 9mm shell casings at the scene of the crime.
Witnesses told police they saw McNeil pull out a handgun and point it at Dean. The witness then took cover inside a residence and “immediately heard numerous gunshots.” Afterward, they saw McNeil “walking in a fast pace towards Stevens Road.” The witness identified McNeil after looking at a series of photographs.
The two men charged with murder after their street race claimed the live of an uninvolved driver were offered a plea deal Monday.
Ryan Thompson and Rasheed Murray were charged with the second-degree murder of Matthew Jeffrey Roth last July. According to police, Thompson and Murray were street racing, traveling north on 16th Street, NW, when Murray lost control of his vehicle and he struck another car, driven by Roth. Roth was rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries and later was pronounced dead.
The government has offered both men a sentence of four to 10 years, in compliance with sentencing guidelines, if they both plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter. Both men have to accept the deal before August 12 for it to go forward.
Roth’s family filled rows of the courtroom Monday, sitting around a jersey bearing Roth’s name hanging over one of the courtrooms upholstered seats.
Murray was arrested at the scene of the crash and Thompson was charged later on November 10. Both were released on bail with high intensive supervision.
Nearing the end of the status hearing, the prosecution also noted that Thompson may have violated his release conditions. He was pulled over on April 5 driving 85 m.p.h in a 60 m.p.h zone. He was charged a fine and pretrial services was not notified. The prosecutors requested a pretrial show cause hearing be set to review the latest violation, which was scheduled for August 6.
Thompson, who was a D.C. firefighter at the time of the crash. He was put on leave by the department, according to FireRescue1, a news site that provides information the fire service community.
Thompson and Murray will be seen together in court on September 30 for another status hearing.
Alphonso Roberts, 32, pleaded guilty on Friday to the murder of Maurico Walker.
In Roberts’ status hearing in early July, his attorney said his client was anticipating entering plea negotiations. Since then, Roberts was extended a plea deal which would sentence him to twenty years in jail for murder and fifteen for unlawful possession of a firearm. Both sentences will be carried out simultaneously.
According to details of the plea deal, Walker was killed earlier this year on February 10. Walker and another person were seen robbing unlocked cars in the 2100 block of R Street, SE. The person with Walker was seen taking items out of Roberts’ Volvo when Roberts noticed and exited his apartment to confront the two. Roberts confronted Walker, but Walker and his companion started to leave the area.
The two walked towards the Anacostia Library in the 1800 block of Good Hope Road, SE. Moments later, Roberts pulled up, exited his Volvo, and with a handgun, shot in their direction. Walker was shot in the back and head as he attempted to run away. He was transported from the scene and succumbed to his injuries.
At the time, Roberts was also legally banned from owning a firearm due to prior felony convictions. Police searched his home later on February 25 and found a Glock 9-millimeter semi-automatic handgun in a closet. He was arrested that day and has been held ever since.
His sentencing will take place on September 16 for the murder case and October 14 for the firearms case.
