DC Superior Court Judge Robert Hildum ruled that prosecutors presented sufficient evidence to prove a teen’s involvement in a carjacking during a hearing on March 13.
Aniq-Kai Covington, 16, is charged with armed carjacking, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, and robbery while armed for his alleged involvement in a carjacking case that occurred on Aug. 13, 2024, on the 2700 block of 31st Street, SE.
Covington is charged as an adult under Title 16 giving prosecutors more latitude in extremely serious cases.
During the hearing, the prosecution notified Judge Hildum that they were revoking a plea offer that would have required Covington to plead guilty to armed carjacking and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence in exchange for the prosecution not seeking an indictment.
Covington’s defense attorneys, Varsha Govindaraju and Damayanti Desai, explained that he was rejecting the prosecution’s offer, which was withdrawn.
The prosecution called a detective from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) to explain he worked on the case and previously encountered Covington. Govindaraju cross-examined the detective and alerted the court that no surveillance footage was retrieved from the case and that no DNA evidence was found that was linked to Covington.
Govindaraju painstakingly went through every call, interview, testimony, and description of the case to ensure accuracy with the officer. However, Judge Hildum interrupted Govindaraju saying, “Ask your question and get on with it” and “Can we please get to something relevant to this hearing?” In addition, the prosecution objected more than eight times during the cross-examination, questioning the relevance and line of questioning.
Once the witness was excused, the prosecution presented their argument against Covington. They highlighted that the complainant never gave her permission for him to use or take her car and claimed they had acquired Covington’s fingerprints inside of the passenger seat of the vehicle, allegedly proving his involvement.
Govindaraju urged Judge Hildum to find against probable cause indicating Covington’s guilt. She explained there was a lack of evidence and there could have been many other factors that led to the carjacking. She argued there was no video evidence which indicated Covington was involved in the carjacking and he did not match the suspect descriptions given from eyewitnesses at the scene of the incident.
Ultimately, Judge Hildum ruled that the court found probable cause for all counts of the crime.
Desai requested that Covington be released to home confinement with GPS monitoring. She presented letters of support from Covington’s family members, emphasizing he was “the pillar of the family.” Additionally, she alerted Judge Hildum that Covington was underage and had a child on the way.
This argument did not sway Judge Hildum, who reiterated that although “He’s a child,” Covington would be tried as an adult. Because of this, he ruled that no conditions could be imposed to ensure the community’s safety, and Covington would remain incarcerated.
The next hearing is scheduled for March 27.
