Search Icon Search site

Search

Jovante Hall ordered held without bail


A judge has ordered Jovante Hall without bail after finding probable cause for his arrest in court on Tuesday afternoon.

Hall, 18, has been charged with second-degree murder while armed for the death of of John Rufus Evans III, who was stabbed at the Deanwood metro station Monday morning. Hall was already out on bail for unlawful entry, assault and destruction of property.

According to charging documents, detectives reviewed metro center video surveillance where Hall and Evans were seen traveling on separate metro cars of the same train. Hall was walking ahead of Evans as they both got off at the Deanwood station and Hall waited for Evans to catch up after tapping out of the turnstiles.

An altercation broke out between the two and both had their hands up in the surveillance. Shortly after, Hall fled the metro station with an “unknown item” in his hand and Evans is seen clutching his neck where he was bleeding from.

Shortly after police released still photos of Hall from the video surveillance to the public, investigators began receiving tips through anonymous phone calls, text messages and social media identifying Hall.

A witness said they saw Evans punched Hall first and Hall swung back, but they did not realize he had a knife in his hand.

In court, Hall’s lawyer argued he used self defense to react to Evans’ aggression, but the judge said this was not Hall’s first run-in with the criminal justice system. In 2015, he was charged for assaulting a police officer and possessing a weapon.

Hall is expected to appear in court on April 22.

Harold Marshall’s trial date set for February 2017

 The man accused of fatally stabbing Tyrone Moore, 32, in March 2015 now has a trial date set for February of next year.

Harold Marshall, 38, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder while armed. Marshall was in court Tuesday, but has been allowed out of prison as part of the court’s the high intensity supervision program.

On March 22 of last year, police responded to the report of a stabbing in the 1600 block of F Street, NE. The victim, later identified as Moore, was transported to the hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

In court, pre-trial services representative said that Marshall had been compliant with the program’s rules, up until last week, when he violated the rules and did not charge his GPS tracker and allowed it to die for about five hours.

Marshall’s defense attorney, David Knight, told the courts that his client did not go to work the morning the tracker died and forgot to charge it because he was asleep. He said it was a “minor hiccup” and it will not happen again.

“I will overlook it,” said D.C. superior court Judge Jose Lopez. He told Knight the program is a privilege and to be emphatic on how strict the program is to his client.

Marshall’s next scheduled appearance in court is May 13 for a status hearing.

Police announce arrest in Monday’s Deanwood metro stabbing


Police on Tuesday announced an arrest had been made in the prior day’s stabbing of a teenager at the Deanwood metro station, in what police said was a “petty dispute with weapons.”

According to police, 15-year-old John Rufus Evans III was stabbed in the neck at the metro station just after 11 a.m. Monday morning. Police announced Tuesday that Jovante Hall, 18, has been charged with second-degree murder.

Assistant Chief of Police Peter Newsham said at a press conference that Evans and Hall knew each other and had an ongoing dispute. The two met on the same train traveling in the same direction by chance, and Newsham described the incident as a “petty dispute with weapons” resulting in violence.

This is the second homicide where a 15-year-old has been killed at the Deanwood metro station by another teenager in the past two weeks. On March 26, Davonte Washington was fatally shot while traveling to get a haircut with his mom and sisters. Maurice Bellamy has been charged with his murder.

Newsham said community members were instrumental in providing tips to police so an arrest could have been made within hours of the homicide. Police said they will be stepping up patrol at metro stations to ensure riders feel safe.

presser 412Mayor Muriel Bowser stressed at the press conference that perpetrators of incidents like these will be caught and brought to justice because of metro station cameras. Following the homicide Monday morning, police circulated photos of a person of interest, later identified as Hall.

“We were all shocked and saddened by the events of yesterday. What we want to be sure of is that we are telling young people that to resolve conflict is not to engage in these very significant altercations, because that can resolve in one of them being dead and one of them going to jail,” Bowser said. “These are not school yard incidents. These are real life altercations that have led to this homicide.”

Police investigating homicide at Deanwood Metro

Police are investigating a fatal stabbing at the Deanwood metro station, the second homicide at that location in a little over two weeks.

The name and age of the victim were not immediately available. Police had been investigating a stabbing at the metro station Monday morning, but announced on Twitter it had turned to a homicide investigation after the victim died.

On March 26, Davonte Washington was killed on the metro platform while traveling with his mom and sisters to get a haircut for Easter. Police arrested a 17-year-old for his murder.

 

 

Robert Smith sentenced to eight years for killing infant son

Robert Smith Sr., the man who admitted to squeezing his five-month-old son to death, was sentenced to eight years in prison Friday, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Smith had entered a guilty plea of voluntary manslaughter in exchange for a maximum 30-year sentence.

According to his charging documents, Smith admitted to squeezing his baby, Robert Smith Jr., on multiple occasions inside his Petworth home.

Smith Sr. initially denied causing his son’s death, but later told police “I did it,” according to the documents. He told the detective that he squeezed the child to stop him from crying and that he had done this multiple times before.

“Like you squeeze a roll of toothpaste,” Smith Sr. said.

Attorney for Tavon Stewart suggests self defense in homicide case

The attorney for Tavon Stewart, charged with the murder of Rudolph Garris in March, questioned a lead detective in the case Tuesday, suggesting his client acted in self defense.

According to Det. Robbie Warren, who was relaying witness accounts given to him, Stewart, 23, also known as “Juice” got into an argument with 25-year-old Rudolph Garris. The entire incident took place on March 1, in the 4200 block of 6th Street, SE, outside a car where a woman sat in the driver’s seat, and a 7-year-old child in the back. The woman told police, according to Warren, that Garris took off his jacket when he was confronted by Stewart, and was in a stance to fight. Warren believes, according to witness interviews that “Juice” is the man who approached the car, and said “You’re gonna stop disrespecting me…” This, Warren gathered, was referring to a prior incident two weeks ago when Garris was allegedly talking about Stewart to other people in the neighborhood. The woman told police she exited the car and stepped in between the two men and pushed Garris into the passenger seat to diffuse the situation. Warren told the court the woman said, “Juice reached over her and shot [Garris] in the chest,” police said. The woman drove Garris to the hospital after the shooting, but he was pronounced dead. Stewart was arrested on March 24.

Stewart’s attorney questioned the detective about a hammer found 12-15 inches from the curb where the incident occurred. Warren said the hammer belonged to the female witness and was used to keep the hood of her car up. Lawyers on both sides of the case said the witness accounts are inconsistent if Garris used the hammer as a weapon or not.

The 7-year-old witness in the back seat during the incident said Garris had the hammer in his hand, but the woman told police she had not seen Garris with a hammer during the entire interaction.

Stewart’s attorney argued the use of a weapon by Garris is enough of a threat to show that any action against him would be self defense.

The hearing will reconvene on April 8.

David Bright rejects plea offer in double homicide case


The man charged with the alleged murder of Clifton Francis, 51, and David Watkins Jr., 45, rejected a plea deal that offered him 20-30 years in prison for each count against him.

David Bright, 29, was offered a plea deal where he would enter a guilty plea for two counts of voluntary manslaughter while armed that would earn him a maximum of  60 years in prison.

After he was brought into the court room, Bright said “Your people tried to kill me, know what happened,” to a family member of the deceased in the audience. He repeated this line twice, followed by a few swears until he was escorted out of the courtroom.

When the defendant returned, he apologized to D.C. Superior Court Judge Jose Lopez for his outburst and Detective Marvin Washington was called to the stand.

Bright has been charged with first-degree murder while armed. Bright lived inside a home with the two men he killed, and a witness who called police after the shooting.

Winters requested that her client be released to a halfway house or on high intensity supervision, because the defendant is employed and has ties to his community and his mother. Winters said there was not enough probable cause in the case against Bright because there is a question of who the initial aggressor was, and said Bright had acted in self-defense.

Judge Lopez rejected Winters’ request to release Bright and ordered him held without bail.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Det. Washington said he was the secondary detective in the investigation for this homicide case. He reviewed the details of the arrest warrant his partner, the lead detective in this investigation, had signed.

Defense attorney Dominique Winters questioned the credibility of the police’s first witness, and pointed to a romantic involvement he had with one victims and his “habitual drug use.”

According to the witness’ testimony in the charging documents, on the day of the shooting“Day-Day” (Bright) ran into the home and up the stairs–and then out again. He came in again and went up and down the stairs, when the witness then heard several “loud bangs” from the living room, where Francis was. The witness told police he saw “Day-Day” with a black handgun, shooting Francis at close range while yelling “This will teach you!”

The witness told police he then heard Watkins yell, “Day-Day what are you doing? You’re crazy!” According to the warrant, Bright then shot Watkins, and then pointed the gun at the witness’ head. The witness ran into a room and called police.

When police showed the witness a line up of photos, including Bright’s, he could not positively identify him. He did, however, give police a phone number that Bright uses. Bright had also filed a police report on Jan. 6 after he was the alleged victim of a theft, and gave the home where the shooting occurred as his address.

Winters asked the detective if the witness ever told him that there were any event before Bright ran upstairs to allegedly get the gun. The detective said the witness told police that there had been a verbal altercation, possibly regarding money, before Bright ran upstairs.

Bright’s next scheduled appearance in court is June 10 for a felony status conference.

Tammy Mathis-Lawrence released to halfway house

Tammy Mathis-Lawrence, the woman charged with allegedly stabbing her tenant in the neck, was ordered released to a halfway house until her next hearing on May 9.

In a hearing last week, Lawrence’s lawyer said her client is depressed in jail and her medication is “screwed up” by corrections officers.

Judge Milton C. Lee granted Lawrence a test run at the halfway house, and concluded, “…if [Lawrence] slips up then she will go back to jail.” Lawrence is expected to continue a drug detox program and continue taking medication as prescribed.

According to charging documents, Lawrence was arguing with her tenant, Ricardo Dasilva, about paying rent when she allegedly stabbed him in the neck with a pair of scissors.

In the hearing Friday, the prosecution relied heavily on the testimonials from Ricardo Dasilva’s girlfriend and Lawrence’s boyfriend, who were both in the apartment when the incident happened.

To supply a timeline of events and show what they perceived to be switching statements from Lawrence’s boyfriend, the prosecution showed body camera footage from the night of the stabbing to show recordings of witness testimonials. According to his testimony, Lawrence and Dasilva were speaking calmly at first, so the boyfriend went into his room where the stabbing later occurred. According to the charging documents, the boyfriend told police Dasilva put his hands around Lawrence’s throat and punched her in the face. Lawrence then pulled a pair of scissors out her bra and stabbed Dasilva in the neck.

The prosecution also showed Dasilva’s girlfriend’s statement to police, in which she tells police she overheard initial moments of the incident in which Lawrence went into a room and told Dasilva to not come in or he would “pay what he weighed.” The prosecution said this suggested a threat.

Lawrence’s lawyer, Judith Pipe began by saying “pay what you weigh” was a reference to paying his share of rent and was not a suggestion of violence. According to both witnesses, Dasilva died in Lawrence’s boyfriend’s arms after he had been stabbed in the neck.

The defense said the trauma Lawrence’s boyfriend experienced led him to slightly change his story in order to fully make sense of it. Pipe also argued Lawrence’s boyfriend was not on their “side.”

The defense focused largely on conditions Lawrence is experiencing in prison.

Judge Lee told both sides to take what the witnesses said “with a grain of salt,” because personal biases will always come into play.

The judge ordered a release of Lawrence to a halfway house and ordered her to model good behavior until her next court date on May 9.

Woman dies from injuries sustained in September

A 43-year-old woman died Sunday from injuries sustained in September of last year, and the cause of death was ruled a homicide.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled Medina Michelle Thornton’s death a homicide, the result of complications of blunt force trauma to the head. According to police, Thornton was found unconscious and suffering from trauma to the head in an apartment in the 300 block of Delafield Place, NW, on Sept. 19, 2015.

Thornton died on April 3 from her injuries.

 

Death of man strangled in January ruled a homicide

The death of Sheldon Scott Gordy in January was ruled a homicide by the medical examiner last month.

According to police, Gordy, 55, was killed in the 1300 block of Nicholson Street, NW, on Jan. 5. His death was ruled a homicide by the office of the Chief Medical Examiner on March 31. The cause of death was “blunt force trauma with compression to the neck.”

Police have not yet arrested any suspects.

Police identify suspect for murder of Darnell Lee Richardson

Leon Stewart
Leon Stewart

Police are asking for the public’s help in searching for Leon Stewart, 24, a suspect wanted for allegedly shooting 29-year old Darnell Lee Richardson last month.

When found, police plan to charge Stewart with first-degree murder while armed for the death of Richardson in the 3400 block of Benning Road, NE on March 16.

Stewart is described by the police as a black male, weighing 190 pounds, and 5 feet 7 inches tall.

Anyone with information about Stewart’s whereabouts can call the Metropolitan Police Department at (202) 727-9099.

 

 

 

 

Man charged with murdering 5-week-old son to be sentenced Friday

The man charged with squeezing his five-week old son to death in August will be sentenced to a maximum of 30 years in prison Friday.

Robert Smith Sr., 28, was initially charged with first-degree felony murder for the death of his five-week-old son Robert Smith Jr. In exchange for pleading guilty to a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter, prosecutors offered a 30-year maximum sentence.

According to court documents, Smith Sr. initially denied causing his son’s death, but later told police “I did it.” He told the detective that he squeezed the child to stop him from crying and that he has done this multiple times before.

“Like you squeeze a roll of toothpaste,” Smith Sr. said.

According to Smith, he “compressed the child’s body” at around 7:30 a.m. the morning the child died, and bent his body backwards “like a whiplash” when he was frustrated and running out of options to calm the child. Smith said he had squeezed the child times before.

Smith also told the detective that his son’s mother “has this idea that ‘I’m a great guy,” but described himself as “a monster.”

The Chief Medical Examiner for the District of Columbia conducted an autopsy that found multiple old injuries on the baby’s body, as well as fractures to the child’s ribs and hyperextensions of his spine. Deputy Medical Examiner Dr. Mehdee Koolaee, said that these types of injuries are “inflicted injuries” and could not be caused by CPR.

[documentcloud url=”http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2781756-Charging-docs-Robert-Smith.html”]

Delonte Wynn pleads not guilty to first-degree murder charge

Delonte Javon Wynn, 34, charged with first-degree murder while armed for allegedly planning the murder of Darlene Marie Bryant, 46, pleaded not guilty in court Thursday.

Wynn allegedly shot and killed Bryant in the 4300 block of Wheeler Road, SE, on May 13, 2015. He was arrested on June 30 and initially charged with second-degree murder while armed. The charge was then upgraded to first-degree murder while armed.

In court, U.S. Government attorney Chris Bruckmann said the government was done with DNA testing and had submitted reports to the defense and D.C. courts.

Wynn’s defense attorneys, Murad Hussain and Mary Kennedy, requested discovery from D.C. courts, as well as a scheduled trial date for their client.

A jury trial is scheduled for Dec. 5.

Three alleged Independence Day shooters appear in court


A judge granted permission for the government to do DNA testing of blood drops found at the scene of Dwayne Dillard’s homicide.

The three men charged with Dillard’s death appeared in court this week in a preliminary hearing.

Shakim Lyons, 26, Jonathan Taylor, 24, and Harry Herbert, 27 were arrested in Aug. 2015 and charged with second-degree murder while armed for the fatal shooting of Dwayne Dillard on July 4 in the 2600 block of Douglass Place, SE. Their next court is April 22.

The prosecuting attorney in this case, Channing Phillips, requested that D.C. courts grant permission for additional DNA testing of blood drops from the scene. Phillips said he would let the defense know the results from the lab, as long as the defense allows the government to do the testing without the defense present. Defense attorneys, Natalie Lawson, Gene Johnson, and Frances D’Antuono agreed to the terms.

 

Murder suspect Ammaad Chase-El ordered to continue mental evaluation


One of three men charged with the alleged murder of Antonio Ayala a year ago was ordered by a judge to continue psychiatric treatment and testing at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital.

Ammaad Chase-El was arrested April 9, 2015 and charged with the murder of 34-year-old Antonio Ayala. According to police, Ayala was killed in a robbery gone wrong.

Chase-El has been going through mental examinations and competency retention programs at St. Elizabeth’s, and a previous mental observation hearing was also focused on his declining mental health.

A report relayed to the court from the hospital said Chase-El was experiencing a decline in competency and that the option of psychotropic medication (anti-depressants) was made voluntary. Doctors working with Chase-El urged the judge to make the medication mandatory because Chase El “will not regain mental state without it.”

Chase-El’s lawyer argued against the implementing of mandatory drugs until he received a definitive report that stated the drugs would ensure the recovery of Chase-El. The lawyer continued and stated that depression and cognitive function are two separate issues. The judge agreed and declined to make the drugs mandatory, and preferred to wait to see if Chase-El made any improvement in the next testing.

Due to Chase-El’s mental state, his mother and father came up from the audience to speak on his behalf. Chase El’s parents said they visit him at St. Elizabeth on a weekly basis and have seen first hand how the tests are being done. Both expressed dissatisfaction with the tests. Chase-El’s mother told about an instance she witnessed where one of the examiners raising their voice to Chase-El saying “Ammaad, why don’t you understand?”

The court decided to meet in another 30 days to allow Chase-El another month of mental tests. The judge urged Chase-El to put in his best effort when being tested at St. Elizabeth so the doctors can report accurate findings and the trial can progress past the mental observation hearings. Chase-El responded with his only words of the hearing and replied, “I do…my best.”

In addition to Chase-El, Javonte Odom and Herman Odom have also been charged in the case. Javonte Odom is due next in court on May 19, and Herman Odom is due back in court July 29.